Medical registries represent vital patient interests and should not be dismantled by stricter regulation.

BACKGROUND

Medical registries serve patients as beneficiaries of quality standards and new treatment opportunities. However, it has been argued that registries threaten patient privacy interests and should therefore be more strictly regulated.

METHODS AND RESULTS

With the European Treatment and Outcome Study for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia as a concrete example we identify and describe how four of the major arguments put forward for stricter regulation fail.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that medical registries should be promoted both for research and quality control, and that the regulatory bureaucratic burden should be reduced.