Czech data watchdog condemns state drugs institute

The Office for Personal Data Protection has slammed a state body in charge of supervising the authorisation and prescription of medicines for going beyond its remit in collecting data on patients. The watchdog said the State Institute for Drug Control exceeded its powers when creating a central prescriptions database. It said the material collected meant it was possible to tell what individual patients were suffering from. Czech pharmacists have campaigned for a long time against the database. The state institute has said it will use its right to appeal the watchdog’s findings by the end of the month.