Man's request to see the medical file of his son who died in prison is denied in court

The father of a man who died because of a suicide in the Justitieel Complex Zaanstad (JCZ) prison in May 2023, is not allowed to see his son’s medical file. That is the outcome of summary proceedings in The Hague. The father wants to see it because he thinks that his son was not treated properly. However, the interim relief judge ruled that such a file falls under the medical professional secrecy of the care provider in question.

Every patient needs to be able to trust the fact that the information that they share with their care provider will remain confidential after their death, the court ruled. "From a human point of view, it is understandable that the relatives want to be informed of all available information about the detention period. However, the claim must be tested against the law. In this case, medical confidentiality cannot be breached," the ruling reads.

The son, for example, had never given permission for information from his medical file to be shared with his father. "The father suspects that mistakes were made in the medical treatment of his son, but the judge finds that he has not made this sufficiently plausible. His position that a medical error was made is not supported by the investigation reports that were drawn up following the death."

The father can ask an independent doctor to study the medical file.