At the DLD innovation conference in Munich, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn spoke out in favor of the use of anonymized patient data in health research. This would enable physicians to better understand diseases such as diabetes or dementia and cure other sufferers.
He understood debates about the ethics of data use, but not the distrust many citizens have of the state. For example, he criticized that American companies such as Google could collect user data without protesting, for example via the provider FitBit (fitness wristbands), while his proposal to collect health insurance data is causing outrage in Germany. This lack of trust is preventing Germany and Europe from becoming competitive.
Stefan Vilsmeier, head of the medtech start-up Brainlab, agreed with Spahn’s demand and warned that withholding data would kill people.
