Patient data for commercial companies? An ethical framework for sharing patients’ data with for-profit companies for research

• Published in: Journal of medical ethics Vol. 51; no. 5; p. jme-2022-108781
• Main Authors: Winkler, Eva C, Jungkunz, Martin, Thorogood, Adrian, Lotz, Vincent, Schickhardt, Christoph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics 25.05.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Biomedical Research - ethics; Ethics; ethics- business; ethics- medical; Extended; Extended essay; health care economics and organizations; Health care industry; Hospitals; Humans; Information Dissemination - ethics; Infrastructure; Liberalism; Medical ethics; Medical research; Patients; philosophy- medical; Privacy; public policy; R&D; Research & development; Society; United Kingdom > UK; ethics- business; ethics- medical; philosophy- medical; health care economics and organizations; public policy
• ISSN: 0306-6800; 1473-4257; 1473-4257
• DOI: 10.1136/jme-2022-108781

BackgroundResearch using data from medical care promises to advance medical science and improve healthcare. Academia is not the only sector that expects such research to be of great benefit. The research-based health industry is also interested in so-called ‘real-world’ health data to develop new drugs, medical technologies or data-based health applications. While access to medical data is handled very differently in different countries, and some empirical data suggest people are uncomfortable with the idea of companies accessing health information, this paper aims to advance the ethical debate about secondary use of medical data generated in the public healthcare sector by for-profit companies for medical research (ReuseForPro).MethodsWe first clarify some basic concepts and our ethical-normative approach, then discuss and ethically evaluate potential claims and interests of relevant stakeholders: patients as data subjects in the public healthcare system, for-profit companies, the public, and physicians and their healthcare institutions. Finally, we address the tensions between legitimate claims of different stakeholders in order to suggest conditions that might ensure ethically sound ReuseForPro.ResultsWe conclude that there are good reasons to grant for-profit companies access to medical data if they meet certain conditions: among others they need to respect patients’ informational rights and their actions need to be compatible with the public’s interest in health benefit from ReuseForPro.