Privacy was a major concern for the Schumacher family.

Felix Damm, the lawyer for Michael Schumacher, has disclosed the primary reason for withholding the “final” medical report from the public for an extended period. The Schumacher family’s decision to keep it private is primarily based on concerns for privacy.

On 29 December 2013, Michael Schumacher suffered a life-threatening accident while skiing in the French ski resort of Meribel, resulting in severe brain injuries. Since then, he has been residing privately in Switzerland, and details about his health have been kept confidential.

Damm revealed that after deep thinking and consultation, the family decided not to make Schumacher’s final health report public due to privacy concerns. He also stated that the family would have come under pressure from the media to release timely health updates if the final health report had been released earlier. He told the German media outlet LTO:

“It was always about protecting private things.

“We considered whether a final report about Michael’s health could be the right way to do this.

“But that wouldn’t have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated ‘water level reports’ and it would not have been up to the family when the media interest in the story stopped.

“They [the media] could pick up on such a report again and again and as ‘and what does it look like now?’ one, two, three months or years after the message,” he added. “If we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure.

“If it is not the person concerned himself but friends or acquaintances who disclose private information, it is not a case of ‘voluntary self-disclosure’ of privacy.

“Therefore, the data subject can defend himself against disclosure of private circumstances even if the information comes from an acquaintance.”

Mercedes Press Image