Bill Proposed to Protect Confidentiality of Cancer Patients' Medical Records

Italy's government is pushing for a bill that would allow cancer patients to withhold their medical records from insurance applications and other purposes to prevent discrimination based on their cancer history, even after they have fully recovered.

According to Reuters and other sources on the 13th, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni expressed support for the swift parliamentary approval of a bill that guarantees the "right to be forgotten" for cancer patients. The key focus of this bill is to allow individuals who have been cancer-free for 5 to 10 years to refrain from disclosing their medical records to financial institutions, adoption agencies, and others. Individuals who were diagnosed with cancer before the age of 21 can qualify for this bill if there has been no cancer recurrence within 5 years after the last treatment, while other adults can qualify if there has been no cancer recurrence within 10 years. The bill was submitted to the Senate in February last year, but faced a lack of progress, prompting the Prime Minister's intervention.

According to Reuters, over 900,000 individuals in Italy are known to face difficulties in insurance, loans, and adoption applications due to their cancer history.

In Europe, countries such as France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Romania have already legally established the right to be forgotten for cancer patients.

Date: 2024-01-18

Reporter: Jeong Ho Yeon