Regulation on Personal Health Data: Current Health Status to Prevail Over Previous Medical Diagnoses
Kemal Kumkumoğlu
Yaren Alparslan
Associate
Buse Sığın
Trainee
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Personal Health Data (the "Amending Regulation"), published in the Official Gazette dated 4 July 2026 and numbered 33300, introduced significant amendments to the Regulation on Personal Health Data (the "Regulation"). The amendments revise the provisions governing the correction of personal health data and establish a new legal mechanism for the reassessment of personal health data.
The Amending Regulation distinguishes between two separate legal mechanisms concerning personal health data. The first is the correction of personal health data, regulated under Article 13 of the Regulation, while the second is the newly introduced mechanism of reassessment of personal health data, set out under Article 13/A. These mechanisms serve distinct legal purposes and should not be regarded as interchangeable in practice.
The correction mechanism under Article 13 is limited to the rectification of personal health data that has been created erroneously or contains material errors. In other words, this mechanism applies to situations such as the recording of a diagnosis for the wrong individual, the entry of an incorrect ICD code, the erroneous recording of laboratory results, or similar clerical or administrative mistakes. Conversely, a diagnosis that was medically accurate at the time it was established cannot be removed from or amended in an individual's health records solely upon the individual's request. Accordingly, the purpose of this provision is not to alter historical medical records retrospectively but rather to ensure the accuracy and integrity of health records.
The amendment to the second paragraph of Article 13 is intended to ensure consistency among different data repositories. Under the revised provision, any correction made by the Ministry of Health pursuant to an application must also be reflected in the information management system of the relevant healthcare provider. Whether corresponding updates will be made in the databases of other public institutions or private entities processing the same data will continue to be determined in accordance with the specific legislation applicable to those institutions. This amendment seeks to eliminate inconsistencies between the central health records maintained by the Ministry and the records retained by healthcare providers.
The newly introduced Article 13/A establishes a distinct legal mechanism within Turkish health law. Rather than questioning the validity of a diagnosis that was lawfully and properly established in the past, the provision enables a reassessment of whether that diagnosis continues to exist in light of the individual's current health status. Accordingly, the purpose of the reassessment mechanism is not to erase a previously accurate diagnosis but to determine, through an objective medical assessment, whether the relevant medical condition currently exists.
The reassessment procedure varies depending on the authority that initially established the diagnosis. Diagnoses made by a single physician must be reassessed by a medical board consisting of at least three physicians, whereas diagnoses previously established by a three-member medical board or a fully constituted medical board may only be reassessed by a fully constituted medical board. This approach is intended to ensure that the level of authority conducting the reassessment corresponds to the level of authority that rendered the original diagnosis.
From a practical perspective, the most significant consequence of the new regulation concerns the legal effect of the medical board report issued following the reassessment. Where the medical board determines that a previously diagnosed condition no longer exists in the individual's current health status, any administrative or legal action based on that diagnosis must thereafter rely on the updated medical board report. Furthermore, unless otherwise expressly provided under the applicable legislation, historical diagnoses may no longer serve as the sole basis for decision-making in any process, particularly in recruitment and employment procedures.
The amendment is expected to have significant implications, particularly in relation to psychiatric disorders, certain oncological conditions, infectious diseases, and other chronic illnesses that may be fully cured or remain in long-term remission. The new framework aims to prevent individuals from continuing to suffer adverse consequences in employment, professional suitability assessments, and similar processes solely because of historical diagnoses that no longer reflect their current medical condition.
In light of these amendments, employers, private healthcare providers, and other data controllers processing personal health data should review their recruitment practices, professional fitness assessment procedures, and other decision-making processes involving health information. In particular, internal policies governing the assessment of health records and data processing practices should be updated to ensure that current medical board reports are duly taken into account where historical diagnoses no longer reflect the individual's present health status. Such measures will be important for ensuring compliance with both personal data protection legislation and the broader principles of Turkish health law.
