ICS chair says amendments could have "catastrophic implications"
Doctors and medical scientists have expressed fears that proposed amendments to new EU data protection measures could stifle research.
The European Commission’s proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation, which would unify data protection in a single law, has been welcomed by the Intensive Care Society (ICS), an organisation of doctors and intensive care professionals, as it would protect patient privacy while enabling medical research to continue.
However, the European Parliament’s civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee (LIBE) proposed amendments in October to Arts 81 and 83 of the Regulation, which would allow health data to be processed for research only with the “specific, informed and explicit” consent of the data subject.
ICS chair, Professor Mark Bellamy says this proposed amendment could have “catastrophic implications for clinical research into critical illness”.
