Real cases

68 published accounts of wrong health records from 48 countries and territories

A wrong record, as we file it: the record was wrong, and correcting it was hard or refused.

Published October 2024 to October 2026, found in sources in 30 languages: 68 of all 442 cases. By region, 4 in Africa, 9 in the Americas, 15 in Asia, 33 in Europe, 4 in the Middle East and 3 in Oceania. Of these, a regulator or court decided 26, the organization involved admitted 11, 29 are allegations not decided and 2 are a person's own account. The sources: 12 decisions by regulators and ombudsmen, 2 court judgments, 1 accounts on a parliament's official record and 53 reports by edited news outlets. 12 decisions are known to us from a news report of it. The list last changed on October 7, 2026.

Each case is filed under one kind of problem when it is written, by the rule above; the cases here are the ones filed under it. These cases are not a sample: they show what is published and findable, not how common wrong records are.

Each case's id links its line on Real cases, the one address to cite. Every case, every kind of problem, by country: Real cases.

By month and region

all cases that month cases filed as record wrong a month not yet over every panel on the same scale, 0 to 15 cases a month

Africa 47 cases, 25 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3
Americas 89 cases, 29 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3
Asia 76 cases, 25 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3
Europe 187 cases, 47 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3
Middle East 25 cases, 13 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3
Oceania 18 cases, 6 countries and territories
15Jan 2025Jan 2026to Oct 3

Each bar counts the cases whose source was published that month, October 2024 to October 2026, by region. Pick a kind of problem to see its share of each bar. Counts show what was published and what our searches found, not how often problems happen. October 2026 runs only to October 3, 2026, the newest source date, so its bars are drawn as outlines. Every case as a spreadsheet (CSV).

See the numbers
Cases filed as record wrong, by month of the source and by region
MonthAfricaAmericasAsiaEuropeMiddle EastOceaniaAll
October 20240001001
November 20240102003
December 20241001002
January 20251000001
February 20250101002
March 20250020002
April 20250002002
May 20250001102
June 20250001001
July 20251000001
August 20250013004
September 20250201003
October 20250101002
November 20250000000
December 20250115007
January 20260002103
February 20261003105
March 20260012115
April 20260020002
May 20260001001
June 20260111003
July 20260122016
August 20260021014
September 20260122005
October 2026 (so far)0010001
All4915334368
Cases filed as record wrong, by how settled they are and by region
How settledAfricaAmericasAsiaEuropeMiddle EastOceaniaAll
A regulator or court decided223172026
The organization admitted the problem01350211
Alleged, not decided26992129
The person's own account0002002
All4915334368
Cases filed as record wrong, by kind of source and by region
Kind of sourceAfricaAmericasAsiaEuropeMiddle EastOceaniaAll
Regulator and ombudsman decisions001110012
Court judgments1001002
Parliament records1000001
News reports2914214353
All4915334368

The cases, newest first

· Bao Dong Nai

Provincial health department finds recurring errors and gaps in hospital medical records

A provincial health department official reported common record faults found across facilities: diagnoses not updated, test results not assessed, sections that contradict each other and orders with no clear link to the patient's condition. No facility was named.

From a Vietnamese source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case VNM-S005 on Real cases Vietnam: the country page

· The Standard

Health ministry admits staff errors put false entries in citizens' national health app records

Over 9,000 people flagged more than 24,000 entries in their national health app history as wrong. The ministry told a parliamentary committee about a quarter of checked entries were staff data-entry errors and others reflected performance targets, not care given.

From a Thai source; summary ours.

Record wrong The organization admitted the problem Case THA-S002 on Real cases Thailand: the country page

· Sudovo-yurydychna hazeta (sud.ua)

Court voids military fitness ruling after commission could not produce examination records

A man said he was never examined, yet a military medical commission certified him fit for service. Asked by the court for the examination file and doctors' findings, the commission produced only the certificate, so the court annulled it.

From a Ukrainian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case UKR-S001 on Real cases Ukraine: the country page

· Агенција за заштита на личните податоци (AZLP), North Macedonia · archived copy

Hospital fined after another person's health details were put in a patient's record

A referral was issued in a patient's name on a day she received no care, carrying someone else's health data. Further referrals and reports followed. The regulator fined the hospital, its director and the doctor; a court upheld it.

From a Macedonian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case MKD-S001 on Real cases North Macedonia: the country page

· Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht), 6B_310/2025

Practitioner rebuilt a patient file after the fact, leaving out treatments; conviction upheld

Patients asked a practitioner for their records and did not get them. Before police questioning he created a new electronic file showing one treatment where the original showed three. The court upheld his forgery conviction.

From a German source; summary ours.

Record wrong A court decided Case CHE-S001 on Real cases Switzerland: the country page

· Respublika.lt (Vakaro žinios)

Clinic's system error sent health check invitations to women registered with other providers

Women received text invitations from a clinic they had never used. The clinic blamed a backend fault in an information system shared with other providers, could not say how many people were reached, and said no data left the system.

From a Lithuanian source; summary ours.

Record wrong The organization admitted the problem Case LTU-S005 on Real cases Lithuania: the country page

· Emarat Al Youm · archived copy

Regulator shuts five health facilities after finding manipulated medical data

The emirate's health regulator closed five facilities and suspended staff pending referral to prosecutors. Inspections found sick notes issued without examining patients and manipulation of medical data, among other licensing violations.

From an Arabic source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case ARE-S003 on Real cases United Arab Emirates: the country page

· Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság (NAIH), annual report on 2025, case NAIH-9859/2025

Stranger's visit record filed in a patient's national health record by name mix-up

A health institution uploaded another person's outpatient visit sheet into a patient's national record because they shared a name. The regulator found the record inaccurate and faulted the institution for not reporting the resulting breach.

From a Hungarian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case HUN-S003 on Real cases Hungary: the country page

· KNR · archived copy

Compensation decisions delayed while officials travel the country searching for old patient records

Decisions in a government compensation scheme for care given without consent were postponed. The responsible minister said officials must travel around the country to find records, and that records were not always correctly kept.

From a Danish source; summary ours.

Record wrong The organization admitted the problem Case GRL-S002 on Real cases Greenland: the country page

· Comissão de Acesso aos Documentos Administrativos (CADA), Parecer 48/2026

Patient says hospital resent the same report with only a new date

A patient in the Algarve asked for a clinical report needed for care abroad. The patient says the hospital then resent an earlier report with only the date changed; the commission told it to check and supply what was missing.

From a Portuguese source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case PRT-S003 on Real cases Portugal: the country page

· Riigikontroll (National Audit Office of Estonia), report to the Riigikogu · archived copy

Provider ignored a patient's request to correct entries in the national health system

A patient asked a provider to correct data it had sent to the national health system. The provider said the entries were right and would not discuss it. The audit office said this broke the provider's complaints rules.

From an Estonian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case EST-S002 on Real cases Estonia: the country page

· Riigikontroll (National Audit Office of Estonia), report to the Riigikogu · archived copy

Patient found portal entries from a doctor they were not registered with

Checking the national patient portal, a patient found that a family doctor whose list they were not on had recorded a diagnosis and treatment for them. The audit office warned that a misleading history can affect later care decisions.

From an Estonian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case EST-S003 on Real cases Estonia: the country page

· Riigikontroll (National Audit Office of Estonia), report to the Riigikogu · archived copy

One wrong letter in a code put a false diagnosis on record

For years, documents sent to the national system carried a diagnosis code one letter away from the right one, recording an unrelated finding. The audit office noted such errors can mislead treatment and harm a person's reputation and job prospects.

From an Estonian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case EST-S004 on Real cases Estonia: the country page

· El Observador · archived copy

Patient says digital record lists medicines he never received, complaint still unanswered

A patient found entries in his digital health record showing medicines given in a hospital department he says he never visited. He complained to the hospital, says no clear answer came, and went public. Officials say it is being investigated.

From a Spanish source; summary ours.

Record wrong Alleged, not decided Case CRI-S004 on Real cases Costa Rica: the country page

· Hetq · archived copy

Former doctors allege a regional hospital recorded patients who were never treated

Former doctors told investigative reporters that hospital management entered names of people who were not ill as state-funded patients, inflating patient numbers. The health ministry referred the claims to anti-corruption investigators; management called them absurd.

From an Armenian source; summary ours.

Record wrong Alleged, not decided Case ARM-S001 on Real cases Armenia: the country page

· Valstybinė duomenų apsaugos inspekcija (State Data Protection Inspectorate of Lithuania)

Nurse logged a visit that never happened in a patient's national e-health record

While handling a records transfer, a nurse at a health centre registered a visit the patient never made, then deleted it. The regulator accepted the centre's fixes and rejected the complaint as posing no real risk.

From a Lithuanian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case LTU-S004 on Real cases Lithuania: the country page

· Chronicles of Turkmenistan (Хроника Туркменистана)

Teachers say medical check certificates are sold without anyone checking results

Teachers describe paying a bribe to have their required medical record books filled in, and one says a clinic doctor took samples but issued a certificate of normal results two hours later without checking them.

From a Russian source; summary ours.

Record wrong Alleged, not decided Case TKM-S002 on Real cases Turkmenistan: the country page

· National Human Rights Commission of Korea

Rights commission finds a hospital routinely wrote false entries in a patient's record

After a patient died in hospital, the commission found staff had, as a routine practice, recorded a doctor as giving orders that the doctor never gave. It referred hospital staff to prosecutors and recommended changes to the law.

From a Korean source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case KOR-S001 on Real cases South Korea: the country page

· Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia, National Preventive Mechanism · archived copy

Ombudsman finds patients' medical files at an inpatient clinic nearly empty

On a monitoring visit, the Public Defender's team found the clinic's patient files held almost no entries and often lacked lab results and specialist notes. It tied the gaps to overworked doctors and staff shortages.

From a Georgian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case GEO-S002 on Real cases Georgia: the country page

· La Nación · archived copy

Public insurer admits staff typing error put a stranger's appointment in a patient's record

A patient found a specialist appointment he never requested in his digital health record. The public insurer said a clerk mistyped an ID number, cancelled the appointment and said it has no statistics on similar errors.

From a Spanish source; summary ours.

Record wrong The organization admitted the problem Case CRI-S002 on Real cases Costa Rica: the country page

· SVT Nyheter

Region reports new record system to regulator after patient notes went missing

Within days of a large region switching record systems, staff reported record information that was missing or disappeared, plus failures registering and finding patients. The region reported the system to the medical products regulator and paused it.

From a Swedish source; summary ours.

Record wrong The organization admitted the problem Case SWE-S002 on Real cases Sweden: the country page

· Garante per la protezione dei dati personali · archived copy

Hospital warned after hiding a report in a patient's e-record changed its date

A patient said a hospital put a report in her electronic health record without telling her. When she asked for it to be hidden, the system created a replacement dated the day of the change. The regulator issued a warning.

From an Italian source; summary ours.

Record wrong A regulator decided Case ITA-S004 on Real cases Italy: the country page

Cases as of . Our summaries are free to reuse with credit to SuperTruth (CC BY 4.0).

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