Federal bureaucrats have used PBS script and MBS information to trace eight million patients on behalf of medical researchers, Australian Doctor has learnt.

Last month, psychiatrists condemned a decision by the Department of Human Services to send letters to 50,000 patients prescribed lithium carbonate inviting them to sign up to a study being run by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Queensland.

Professor Gordon Parker said a patient of his who received one of the letters subsequently sent him a “furious” email accusing him of breaching patient confidentiality and informing the department about their bipolar disorder diagnosis.

The professor of psychiatry at UNSW said he was disturbed by the use of PBS data and questioned whether it was ethical.