Such actions discouraging people from going to the doctor can be heard after patients receive calls for questioning. These are the patients of Dr. Maria Kubisa, whose office was entered by state services and took the health records of 6,000 women.
After the CBA in January confiscated documentation from almost 30 years of Maria Kubisa’s practice, concerning 6,000 patients – which the court later found to be an exaggeration – after also taking a calendar and a phone with post-operative data and photos – also of German patients – the police summoned two patients for questioning. – I found out that I had to answer very intimate questions. I had the feeling that they wanted to get something out of me about the doctor, which is not allowed under the law – says Anna, a patient of Mrs. Maria.
The prosecutor’s office suspects the doctor of helping her terminate the pregnancy, but has not even questioned her yet. In response to questions from “Fakty” TVN, the prosecutor’s office writes that it has not brought charges against anyone and will not provide information about what it is doing, i.e. whether it will call, for example, Ms. Małgorzata, who has been treated by Dr. Kubisa for 20 years. – I still feel fury, anger and disagreement with the fact that approximately 6,000 patients were treated like some kind of tool – says Małgorzata Zalewska, a patient of Maria Kubisa.
READ MORE: Doctor Kubisa’s patients summoned for questioning. “They found my phone number”
– This affects really ordinary women who absolutely should not be put in a situation where the state looks into their panties – says Bogna Czałczyńska, plenipotentiary of the Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship for women and equal treatment, Congress of Women in Szczecin.
The cards were returned to the office after two months. On Monday, the police canceled the interrogation of the second patient. Attorney Agnieszka Stach, who was supposed to accompany the woman, wonders whether and who will review the documentation to set a new date. – They were assured (…) that this documentation would only be available for inspection by the prosecutor’s office. So every other person who is even delegated to perform an activity such as an interrogation, I assume, must familiarize themselves with some material regarding their health condition – says Agnieszka Stach, attorney. – The policewoman gave me the doctor’s calendar from 2020, where my name, surname and telephone number were written down – adds Mrs. Anna.
Dr. Maria Kubisa about interrogating her patientsTVN24
A sense of purpose
What is happening around Dr. Kubisa’s office violates, among other things, the right to privacy, lawyers say. – Chilling effect. Such actions discourage people from going to the doctor, especially a gynecologist. It’s better not to go. Why should different people look at my medical records – says Dr. Piotr Kładoczny, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
The District Medical Council in Szczecin will demand such changes that the court will decide on the issuance of medical records. – The most intimate matters are recorded in medical records and it should not be done “haphazardly”. All the more so, causing a situation in which there may be problems with providing help to patients – says Dr. Michał Bulsa, president of the District Medical Council in Szczecin.
– I have many patients who were born at my place. Now they come as patients, says Dr. Maria Kubisa. It’s because of them that she doesn’t close her office, even though she no longer carries out pregnancies. – I cannot, so to speak, break down or worry, because my women need me – he explains.
Main photo source: Fakty TVN