A medical supplies company has been accused in the High Court of an “outrageous attempt” to hold the Health Service Executive to ransom by allegedly demanding more than €140,000 from it to “maintain the integrity” of sensitive patient data in its possession and threatening to sell the data.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan on Thursday granted an interim injunction restraining PMD Device Solutions Ltd from selling, transferring or providing access to patient data to any third party outside of the HSE, whether as part of a sale of assets or under any other arrangement.
He also directed that the business preserves and maintains the data until further court orders.
According to court filings, PMD Device Solutions Ltd, a subsidiary of Swedish company PMD Device Solutions AB, held several contracts with the HSE to provide respiratory monitoring services – including providing respiratory rate sensors for use in hospitals across the State, and cloud storage of patient data.
PMD terminated those contracts with the HSE in December 2024, after the firm’s parent company filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, according to a media report cited in court.
The judge made the orders after the HSE applied for the injunction, claiming that PMD Device Solutions has sought payment from it to ensure the integrity of the patient data it holds, “in circumstances where the [company] is under a duty to keep the data secure, and to return or delete it upon the termination of certain contracts”.
As the application was made ex parte, PMD Device Solutions was not represented in court and has not yet had an opportunity to respond to the claims made in court.
The HSE claims that when it engaged with PMD Device Solutions to facilitate the transfer of patient data following the termination of contracts, the company said that, to “ensure the integrity” of the data, it was seeking a payment of €145,000, excluding VAT, from the HSE.
The Health Service Executive says that PMD Device Solutions “has no contractual entitlement to payment in return for compliance with its obligations to return or delete the [HSE’s] data, and to maintain its integrity”.
The HSE says that PMD Device Solutions chief executive Myles Murray wrote in a January 13th email to the HSE that third parties “will be able to begin bidding and purchasing” on the company’s assets “within 12 days”, after which the company “will have no ability to stand over the integrity of the data”.
Mr Murray added that this issue was raised with the HSE “on several occasions before the new year and that the current time pressure is related to the bankruptcy process”, according to the court filings.
The HSE says that Mr Murray emailed on January 22nd, stating: “We are now preparing to sell the company’s assets.”
This correspondence “demonstrates an outrageous attempt to hold the HSE to ransom over the integrity of the personal data”, the HSE says.
Claire Hogan, appearing for the Health Service Executive, said that the company’s alleged “threatening” to compromise the integrity of the data amounted to “essentially a form of extortion”.
The judge adjourned the matter to Monday. Asked by the judge if it was possible PMD Device Solutions could go into liquidation before next week, Ms Hogan replied there was a risk but that they are “not aware of the exact activity that the defendant is making in this regard”.
In a separate action, PMD Device Solutions has sued the Health Service Executive, claiming it is owed more than €1.2 million by the HSE for its services. The Health Service Executive is contesting the action.
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