Adrienne M. Cullen (9 November 1960 – 31 December 2018) was an Irish journalist, editor and healthcare campaigner who died in the Netherlands aged 58,[1] after a university hospital, UMC Utrecht, admitted losing test results in 2011 showing she had cervical cancer.

[8] In the following years, although increasingly ill, Cullen was a vocal campaigner in the Netherlands for mandatory open disclosure by hospitals when patients are damaged in the course of their treatment.

[10] Cullen also campaigned to have gagging clauses (non-disclosure agreements) banned across the European Union in medical settlements with publicly funded hospitals.

[12] As the Dutch newspaper, NRC, observed in the heading on its obituary, written by its health editor, Frederiek Weeda,[13] and published the day she died: “Staying silent was not an option for Adrienne Cullen (1960–2018).

[19] In his preface to the book, Dr Arie Franx argued that Cullen brought to the fore "...the many lessons to be learnt ... not just by doctors and hospitals, but by patients themselves, by healthcare regulators, and by legislators."

[23] For her courage and persistence, Cullen was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in Laws by her alma mater, University College, Cork, in Ireland, three weeks to the day before she died.

[citation needed] As of August 2024, UMC has hosted six such lectures covering a number of topics related to open disclosure and patients' rights.

[33] Cullen lived in the suburb of Voorschoten, near The Hague,[citation needed] until her death, at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, on 31 December 2018.