The Antonija Prelec Memorial Lecture: 2001 - Lindberg

Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD

Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, the 2nd Prelec Visiting Scholar, is Director of the National Library of Medicine. In addition to an eminent career in pathology, Dr. Lindberg has been a pioneer in the application of computer technology to health care, and has made notable contributions to information and computer activities in medical diagnosis, artificial intelligence, and educational programs.

Dr. Lindberg’s Prelec Lecture, entitled “The Use and Abuse of Digital Medical Information: A Public Policy Dilemma,” focused on public policy in regards to the use and misuse of medical records and scientific information, the state of the art of digital medical information, access to published literature, and abuses of medical information from the improper use of medical data and from poor disposal of medical information, and from “cussedness” and commerce. It also covered legislation and public policy formation, medical data privacy problems, privacy and security practices for immediate and future implementations, etc. Other public policy issues he touched on included the taxation of Internet transactions, the governance of the Internet, the regulation of information display and flow to protect against terrorism, and the preservation of digital information, etc.