Anonymous letter Hirslanden Clinic confirms serious security leak in patient files

An anonymous letter containing serious allegations against an attending physician at the Hirslanden Clinic Zurich has been leaked to "Blick". The doctor is said to have made sensitive patient data accessible to his son without authorization. The clinic has launched an internal investigation.

According to Blick, the Hirslanden Clinic in Zurich has confirmed a serious security leak in the patient files of an attending physician. The clinic has initiated an internal investigation and taken measures. The doctor had unlawfully given his wife access data, it said. The Health Directorate has also confirmed the opening of an investigation.

If the facts of the case are confirmed, the doctor could face severe sanctions, the clinic wrote in response to an inquiry from the newspaper. However, the responsibility for IT security clearly lies with the Hirslanden Clinic. The doctor did not wish to comment publicly on the ongoing proceedings.

According to the report, "Blick" has been in possession of an anonymous letter since last week, which states that the son of an attending physician is said to have had unauthorized access to strictly confidential patient files in the radiology department of the Hirslanden Clinic Zurich over a period of several months. His father - the doctor - had been informed of this.

Letter presents a different picture

On Tuesday, the director of the Hirslanden Clinic Zurich, Marco Gugolz, explained that the clinic assumed that the sender of the anonymous letter was the wife, who "wanted to harm her husband and the family". The hospital is currently investigating which patient data may have been accessed.

The newspaper writes that it cannot verify whether the anonymous letter actually comes from the wife. In the letter, however, the situation is presented differently than by the clinic: "The attending physician passed on the login data to his son because he had a medical problem and wanted to find out about treatment options." That is why his father had given him access to all the patient files of the radiology department of the Hirslanden Clinic Zurich, "Blick" quoted the letter.