Arabic version: وزير الصحة يعتذر عن تسريب بريد إلكتروني لمريض خاطئ
South Australia’s Health Minister Chris Picton has apologised “unreservedly” for the deliberate leak of an email that was presumed to be from an Adelaide cancer patient who later died, but was actually from a different person with the same name.
According to ABC News, Picton accepted full responsibility for the error, stating that a significant mistake had occurred due to the assumption that the email was from the correct person. The incident has raised questions regarding the protocols for handling sensitive patient information.
Premier Peter Malinauskas has defended Picton, asserting that there is no need for the minister to resign, although he acknowledged that the failure to conduct proper checks was “not good enough”. The release of the email followed a public statement by Bronwen Paterson, who had shared her late husband’s experience with the health system.
The opposition has called for a detailed investigation into the matter, expressing concern over the potential misuse of patient information. Opposition health spokesperson Heidi Girolamo criticized the government’s actions, questioning the appropriateness of releasing such information without consent.
Picton emphasized the need for better procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future, admitting that even if the email had been from the correct individual, its release would still have been a mistake. He has since attempted to contact the actual sender of the email to address the situation personally.
