U.K. Health Service Sold Patient Data To Drug Companies

Some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies have purchased patient data from the United Kingdom's National Health Service, according to a new registry, the London Telegraph reports. The registry comes shortly after the Telegraph reported that the NHS Information Centre improperly sold hospital data covering 47 million patients over 13 years to the insurance industry.

About the Registry

The Health and Social Care Information Centre, which replaced the NHS Information Centre, is in charge of NHS data. The list it released contains information on 104 health and social care organizations and 56 private companies that HSCIC approved to receive patient data between April 2013 and December 2013. It also includes groups with previous contracts that were renewed within the past year.

Specifically, the list contains:

• The organization's name;
• The reason for the data request;
• The type of data received; and
• The legal basis for the release.