One of the world’s leading hormone experts has been suspended for four months after she was granted illicit access to the confidential medical records of more than 100 patients held by a competitor.

Dr. Marion Gluck, 73, known worldwide for her pioneering treatment of hormonal imbalances, asked another doctor for confidential login information “as a favor” so she could access a restricted area of the competitor’s website.

As a result, staff at London Specialty Pharmacy (LSP) were twice able to access private details held by arch-rival Roseway Labs before Roseway CEO Elizabeth Philp discovered the data breach in 2022.

Gluck and his former colleague, Harley Street doctor Anu Arasu, 41, who shared the login details, were later reported to the General Medical Council.

Dr Gluck is renowned for her use of natural bioidentical hormones dedicated to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and has treated around 14,000 patients since opening her clinic in London ten years ago.

Leading hormone expert Dr Marion Gluck (pictured) has been suspended after she was granted illicit access to the confidential medical records of more than 100 patients.

His former colleague Anu Arasu, 41, shared his login details with him as a “favour”.

She founded the UK’s first clinic offering bioidentical HRT, which is used to relieve menopausal symptoms, in 2007, after training as a doctor more than 30 years ago in Hamburg.

At the Physicians’ Tribunal Service, Gluck was suspended from medical practice for four months, while Arasu, from Bermondsey, south London, was suspended for two months after both were found guilty of serious misconduct.

Investigations revealed that Arasu, who accessed prescription HRT medications for his patients from both companies, had shared his Roseway login details with LSP, as Dr Gluck, 73, was his “mentor and friend “.

Arasu claimed that she had been “used” by Dr. Gluck and had “automatically assumed that what she was being asked was okay.”

He said he felt as if Dr. Gluck, whom he “trusted,” was “asking for a simple favor.”

Arasu has since had to write apology letters to the 104 patients affected by the data breach.

Dr Gluck denied having personally accessed the details.

However, he accepted that he “facilitated” his staff to use the login address claiming it was to study the format of Roseway’s website.

Dr. Gluck is recognized for her use of natural bioidentical hormones dedicated to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

Its chief pharmacist at LSP is currently facing disciplinary action from the General Pharmaceutical Council over the data breach.

Arasu, qualified in Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Child Health and Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, began working for Dr Gluck in November 2014 before forming her own London Bioidentical Hormones practice on Harley Street in 2016.

Trouble began after LSP’s former general manager Miss Philp and another senior pharmacist left the company in 2017 to set up their own compounding pharmacy, Roseway, the following year.

Initially, Dr. Arasu’s patients could only receive prescriptions from LSP, but later had the option to use Roseway and a third compounding pharmacy.

However, in November 2020, Arasu shared his confidential login details for Roseway’s online portal, ‘eRoseway’, with Dr. Gluck, giving him access to names, dates of birth, addresses, all Roseway patients’ past prescriptions and orders.

In December of the following year, he again provided his eRoseway login details, this time to a person who worked for Dr. Gluck, known only as ‘Mr. D.’

In a statement, Arasu said of Gluck: “She was a senior doctor whom I knew, respected and admired and to whom I often turned for advice and this presented a powerful cognitive bias that caused me to lose sight of my own can”.

‘I did not look for contrary evidence, backtrack, engage in critical thinking or use a systematic decision-making framework. I didn’t look at the situation from a broader perspective and didn’t consider all the ramifications for everyone who might be involved.

Arasu, a graduate in Obstetrics, Gynecology, Child Health and Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, began working for Dr. Gluck in November 2014.

Arasu (pictured) claimed she had been “used” by Dr Gluck and had “automatically assumed that what she was being asked was okay”.

‘I think I felt some discomfort sending the email, but I suppressed my discomfort and assumed that what they were asking of me was fine.

‘I overlooked the issue that this would constitute a data breach. I was completely unaware of the corporate significance of my actions, due to very limited exposure, trust in my professional colleagues, and lack of diverse perspectives.

‘In short, I did not think independently and did not consider the option of saying “no.”‘

Gluck accepted that he had obtained Arasu’s E-Roseway login details and sent them to his colleagues in a meeting on a piece of paper, but insisted that he had never used them and that he was preparing a meal when they were taken to discussions about the Roseway portal.

He insisted that the primary purpose of obtaining login details was to “test the functionality of the LSP portal compared to that of eRoseway.”

Robin Kitching, counsel for the GMC, said Gluck had “reluctantly offered a half-hearted apology to Roseway” and added: “Dr Gluck personally used the eRoseway login to access confidential information relating to Roseway and to access information confidentiality of patients.

«It is a matter of great credulity for Dr. Gluck to say that she had never looked at the Roseway portal.

‘She is a successful businesswoman, as well as a successful doctor, and her computer skills, although limited, were sufficient to access and use the relevant information.

‘We also do not accept that Dr Arasu would not have thought about providing her eRoseway login details to LSP.

“She must have been aware at the time she handed over her login details to a Roseway business competitor that she should not have done so, although she may not have considered all the possible ramifications.”

For Gluck, Mr Davidson said his client denied having “pressured or misled” Arasu into sending his login details to eRoseway.

He added: ‘There was no intention, on their part, to obtain information with a view to examining patient records or breaching patient confidentiality. Dr. Gluck was unaware of the importance of her request and the success of her business cannot be considered evidence of any sinister or premeditated motive on the part of Dr. Gluck.

‘There was no evidence that she used the login details herself. Her behavior was an isolated incident of naivety.

For Arasu, her lawyer Lee Gledhill said of Dr Gluck: ‘She was a mentor to Dr Arasu, and this relationship made it understandable that the margins were softened.

‘Dr Arasu was unaware that anyone would search the Roseway portal further and wrote to all patients whose details had been shared and apologized to each of them. This has been a healthy lesson that she has learned the hard way.’

In his determination, MPTS president Peter Scofield said of Gluck: “His unauthorized use of a rival company’s portal, in order to obtain a commercial advantage in improving his own company’s site, together with the disclosure Unauthorized – whether intentional or unintentional – confidential patient information has brought the reputation of the medical profession into disrepute.

He added: ‘The Tribunal took into account and accepted Dr Arasu’s evidence that Dr Gluck was the former employer of an experienced and respected doctor, and that she remained both a personal friend and mentor.

‘Dr Arasu’s provision of the access details occurred following a request and the Court recognized an imbalance of power between them. In those circumstances, he accepted that it may have been difficult for Dr Arasu to refuse this request for Roseway’s login details.

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