Former Polish health minister convicted for publishing private medical data of critical doctor

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Adam Niedzielski, who served as health minister in the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, has received a suspended prison sentence for publicly disclosing the private medical information of a doctor who was critical of his policies.

In a ruling issued today, Warsaw’s district court found that Niedzielski’s actions “undermined confidence in the entire medical information system” and could have had a “chilling effect” on the medical community.

The episode in question took place last year, when Niedzielski published a post on X (then known as Twitter) in which he responded to criticism by a doctor of changes introduced by the health ministry that restricted doctors’ ability to issue digital prescriptions.

Niedzielski accused the doctor, Piotr Pisula, of telling “lies” to the media regarding the new system and noted that “the doctor issued a prescription for a psychotropic and painkiller drug to himself yesterday”. He included the doctor’s full name in his tweet.

After his actions were widely criticised by figures from the medical and legal communities, Niedzielski defended his post, claiming it was intended to “defend the good name of the ministry and protect patients’ interests”.

But he resigned as health minister – a position he had held since 2020 – shortly afterwards. Subsequently, in December least, the health ministry was fined 100,000 zloty – the maximum possible penalty – by Poland’s data protection agency.

In May this year, prosecutors charged Niedzielski over the incident, claiming his actions constituted an “abuse of power” by “unlawfully processing personal data regarding the health of an identified person by revealing [the data] via mass media in an entry on the internet portal X.”

In its ruling today, the court agreed, finding Niedzielski guilty of crimes relating to disclosing data and handing him a three-month prison sentence suspended for two years. It also ordered the former minister to pay 5,000 zloty (€1,172) in damages and cover court costs

“The health minister was not entitled to disclose information of which he was aware in connection with his office,” judge Michał Wnuk said in oral justification for the judgment, quoted by broadcaster TVN.

“Contrary to the defendant’s assertions, the disclosure of the victim’s personal health data was not necessary to fulfil obligations in the field of securing public health,” he added.

According to the judge, the minister acted “deliberately” and was aware that he was disclosing data, which was, therefore, a crime.

“[Niedzielski’s] post was viewed almost five million times, was widely commented on in the media, replicated by other users, and aroused general public interest,” the judge said.

This “undermined confidence in the entire medical information system” and was “likely to cause anxiety among citizens”, he added. It could also have had a “chilling effect on representatives of the medical community”.

A suspended sentence means that the subject can remain at liberty. However, during the period of the suspension they remain under the special supervision of the state and are required to fulfil the obligations imposed on them. Any violations can result in the jail sentence being served.

The ruling is not yet final and can still be appealed by both Niedzielski and the prosecutors. However, a spokesman for the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw announced that they would not appeal, describing the sentence as “adequate”.

Pisula, the doctor whose data was published by Niedzielski, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that he was pleased with the verdict, saying that it sends “an important signal to politicians that they will face consequences for using public functions against a citizen”.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU / flickr.com (under CC BY-ND 2.0)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.