Regina v Department of Health, Ex Parte Source Informatics Ltd: CA 21 Dec 1999

Where information was given by a patient to the pharmacist, and he took the data, stripping out any possibility of the individual being identified, the duty of confidence which attached to the prescription was not breached by the passing on of the reduced quantity information to a third party who wished to provide a statistical analysis of the prescriptions filled.

Judges:

Lord Justice Simon Brown Lord Justice Aldous And Lord Justice Schiemann

Citations:

Times 18-Jan-2000, [2001] QB 423, [1999] EWCA Civ 3011

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Data Protection Act 1998, Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedSeager v Copydex Ltd CA 1967
Mr Seager had invented a patented carpet grip which he manufactured and marketed under the trade mark Klent. There were protracted negotiations between Mr Seager and Copydex over a proposal for Copydex to market the Klent. One of the issues in the . .
CitedMoorgate Tobacco Co Ltd v Philip Morris Ltd (No 2) 1984
The court approved ‘the adaptation of the traditional doctrine of passing off to meet new circumstances involving the deceptive or confusing use of names, descriptive terms or other indicia to persuade purchasers or customers to believe that the . .
CitedCoco v A N Clark (Engineers) Ltd ChD 1968
Requirememts to prove breach of confidence
A claim was made for breach of confidence in respect of technical information whose value was commercial.
Held: Megarry J set out three elements which will normally be required if, apart from contract, a case of breach of confidence is to . .

Cited by:

CitedAxon, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another Admn 23-Jan-2006
A mother sought to challenge guidelines issued by the respondent which would allow doctors to protect the confidentiality of women under 16 who came to them for assistance even though the sexual activities they might engage in would be unlawful.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Intellectual Property, Health Professions, Information

Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.85219