Profiting from death: could data of deceased Odrex patients become a commodity?
Kyiv • UNN
The deaths of patients at the private Odesa clinic Odrex could be a potential source of income for the business. Families of the deceased claim that funeral agents learned about the deaths earlier than the relatives themselves. And often, instead of clinic representatives, they informed relatives about the tragedy, immediately offering expensive services. This may indicate the illegal transfer of medical and personal data by the Odrex clinic to third parties and point to possible systemic violations of medical confidentiality and legislation on personal information protection.
Stories of families who lost loved ones after treatment at Odrex raise questions not only about the quality of medical services provided at the clinic, but also about the observance of basic human rights. Can information about a patient's death and the contact details of their family members become a commodity, and are there signs of a gross violation of the law in this – read in the UNN material.
The situation where representatives of funeral services appear on the doorstep or call relatives almost immediately after a patient's death, even before official procedures are completed, raises serious doubts about the legality of obtaining such sensitive information. According to lawyers, such practices may indicate not accidental failures, but a systemic abuse of access to confidential data of their patients and their families. This was stated in a comment to UNN by Ihor Kulykov, a lawyer at the criminal law practice of Prikhodko & Partners Law Firm, emphasizing that it could be a shadow market for trading data of the deceased.
The illegal transfer of information about patient deaths by medical workers or emergency medical services to funeral agencies is not an isolated violation, but an element of the shadow, so-called "black market of funeral services." In fact, it is about trading medical secrets and personal data at the moment of a family's greatest vulnerability. From a legal point of view, such a practice has no legal justification. According to Article 40 of the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Healthcare, information about a person's health status, the fact of seeking medical help, and the fact of death are medical secrets. Their disclosure is possible only in cases expressly provided for by law, and funeral agencies do not fall into such cases
This is exactly what Svitlana Huk experienced at the most vulnerable moment, whose husband died after surgery at the Odrex clinic. In an interview with UNN, she said that an agent from the Anubis funeral home called her about an hour after her husband's death – even before any official actions began.
As the widow said, she did not contact any funeral service, did not leave contacts, and did not give consent for the Odrex clinic to transfer any information to third parties.
An hour later, I received a call from an agent of the Anubis funeral home – Yevhen Konstandaki. He already knew about my husband's death and my phone number
Similar stories were heard by the UNN editorial office from other relatives of patients who died after treatment at Odrex. In many cases, people claimed that representatives of "Anubis" contacted them even earlier than representatives of the "Odrex" clinic. In fact, it was not Odrex medical workers who informed them about the death of their relatives, but agents of the "Anubis" funeral home.
Lawyers emphasize that if such data transfer occurs without the family's consent, it directly contradicts Ukrainian law – it is a sign of a violation of medical secrecy and legislation on personal data protection. This was stated in a comment to UNN by Maksym Herasko, a lawyer at "Maksymalny Zakhyst" Law Firm, who explained the legal side of the issue in detail.
The transfer of information about a patient's death and their relatives' contact details by medical institutions or emergency services to funeral agencies without their consent is a violation of medical secrecy and personal data protection legislation. Such actions can be qualified as a violation of human rights to privacy and confidentiality
According to him, if intent or a commercial component is proven, the responsibility may be not only disciplinary or administrative, but also criminal. He also noted that the families of the deceased have the right to demand compensation for moral damages.
Against this background, stories related to the Odesa private clinic Odrex look particularly alarming. Relatives of deceased patients speak not only about the rapid appearance of funeral agents at their doorstep or intrusive calls at one of the most difficult moments of their lives. But also about pressure with demands to refuse an autopsy, which could establish the exact cause of death.
At the same time, former employees of "Odrex", off the record, say that the transfer of bodies of the deceased to the "Anubis" funeral home could have been accompanied by financial gain for the clinic.
If these facts are confirmed, it will not just be about moral shock for families, but about a systemic violation of medical secrecy, personal data protection legislation, and human rights. The "Odrex" medical institution, which was supposed to treat and save lives, in this case finds itself under suspicion of profiting from the death of its patients.