Andreas Lubitz (above) had received treatment for 'suicidal tendencies' but doctors were apparently unable to tell his employer because of strict secrey laws introduced after WWII to prevent a repeat of government spying during the Nazi era . Strict German privacy laws which prevented doctors treating Andreas Lubitz from telling his airline about his 'suicidal tendencies' were introduced in response to Nazi rule. The Germanwings pilot had been forced to stop his training because of severe depression and had received psychotherapy for several years before last week's Alps disaster. But German law meant it was left entirely up to him to volunteer his mental health problems to his employer, something he failed to do with devastating consequences after tearing up a sick note for the day of the crash. The findings from the investigation have prompted heated debate in Germany on a patient's right to privacy, with Chancellor Angela Merkel proposing an inquiry to re-examine the law. Draconian legislation was initially brought in after World War Two to prevent a repeat of government spying during the Nazi era and subsequently the Stasi secret police in East Germany. This extends far beyond confidential medical data, however, to stringent protection of someone's identity, meaning many German publications only referred to Lubitz as Andreas L, even after his death. Further data protection laws traced back to 1907, which enshrines the 'right to your own picture', also mean images can only be published with the individual's consent, it was reported by the Times. With respect to medical data, the criminal code can ultimately leave doctors between a rock and a hard place. For it only allows them breach confidentiality when they have reason to believe that sharing their knowledge could prevent 'a particularly serious crime' or a threat to someone's life. They can face a year in prison if they wrongly breach privacy, but up to five years in jail for withholding 'credible information about the planning or commission' of serious acts like murder. Despite the variation in sentences, doctors have tended to favour the individual's privacy. Still reeling from last Tuesday's disaster that killed 150 people, many in Germany are now debating whether the potential to neutralise threats to public safety should trump doctor-patient privilege. A transport policy expert from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), Dirk Fischer, said strict confidentiality policy should be loosened when their patients work in sensitive fields. Professionals such as pilots 'should only see doctors designated by their employers,' Fischer told the daily Rheinische Post. He added that such doctors 'should be relieved of their pledge of secrecy in communication with the employer and the aviation authority'. Military vehicles arrive ahead of operations at the site of the Germanwings plane crash in Seyne-les-Alpes . A military vehicle  carrying a crash site investigation team heads towards the site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash, in Seyne-les-Alpes in the French Alps . Member of parliament Thomas Jarzombek, also of the CDU, called for the creation of a commission of experts to study how to handle illnesses among those whose jobs mean they hold the welfare of many people in their hands. German prosecutors said Monday that Lubitz had been diagnosed 'several years ago' with suicidal tendencies and was still in treatment. Although his symptoms had abated, he was apparently written off sick on the day the Airbus crashed. Media reports have indicated that Lubitz, 27, was taking medication for severe depression and was being treated for problems with his vision, possibly for a potentially career-ending detached retina. Investigators evaluating voice recorder data say Lubitz remained silent and breathed calmly as he allegedly locked his captain out of the cockpit and slammed the plane into a French mountainside. Carsten Spohr, the head of parent company Lufthansa, has said the airline was utterly unaware of any health issues that could have compromised Lubitz's fitness to fly, calling him '100-percent airworthy'. His professional performance and behaviour had never attracted cause for concern, Spohr added. The German Medical Board has clear ethical policies on doctor-patient relations: 'Doctors must remain silent about what is told to them in confidence or what they learn in their capacity as doctors.' It applies even after the death of a patient and includes keeping medical facts secret even from family members of the person in treatment, under penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine. Tragedy: Relatives of the victims of the air crash visit the memorial in Le Vernet, south-eastern France . Perilous: French Gendarme Bruno Hermignies stands by a bulldozer clearing a path to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the mountains near Seyne-les-Alpes as the recovery operation continues . Calling for change: Anneli Tiirik with her boyfriend Paul Bramley, who died in the Alps plane disaster . The grief-stricken girlfriend of a British student killed in the Alps plane disaster today called for tougher controls to weed out psychopathic pilots. At present, airlines carry out regular checks on their pilots, but this often just involves a brief chat with a doctor to assess their wellbeing. Anneli Tiirik, who is from Estonia, told MailOnline: 'Besides general physical, psychological and behavioural evaluation, another test should be added, I believe, to help avoid more deaths in the future. '(This should be) a neurological PET scan to discover and attentively observe psychopathic tendencies, so as to find out whether the subject is prone to violence and therefore not be given the extensive power that would most likely lead to harming other people. 'It is one thing to be suicidal or obsessive, but feeling no remorse or even nervousness when killing other human beings is a whole new level - a zone only real psychopaths can fully understand.' Ms Tiirik also called for laws to be relaxed to allow doctors greater freedoms to flag up patients with mental health problems if they are responsible for the live of others. German law meant it was left entirely up to Andreas Lubitz to volunteer his mental health problems to his employer, something he failed to do with devastating consequences after tearing up a sick note for the day of the crash. She said: 'I personally think that the problem doesn't lie in the management of the airline as much as in the general tendency of the society to be overly protective about people's medical data. 'It is visible to everyone if somebody has a serious physical illness, but when it comes to major mental problems, these are hidden away at any cost for fear of embarrassment or judgement. 'However, those are illnesses as well and should be treated and inspected accordingly, especially when it comes to job positions regarding huge responsibilities.' Her boyfriend, Paul Bramley, from Hull, was studying hospitality and hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he was about to start an internship after travelling with her. He had been to Barcelona after completing his first term of college for a few days' holiday with friends. Mr Bramley was flying back to the UK via Dusseldorf to see his family. Richard Spillett . One exception, however, is when medical professionals have been excused from this duty by the patient, or when they have reason to believe that sharing their knowledge could prevent 'a particularly serious crime' or a threat to someone's life. A doctor is also obliged to come forward in cases of 'psychiatric illnesses or a possible threat of suicide', member of parliament Karl Lauterbach, himself a physician, told the daily Bild. The German board's head, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, urged caution in reassessing the policy. Patient privacy is a 'cherished fact and, for all the citizens of Germany, a human right,' he said. 'You can tell a society that cares about rules when it doesn't slip into hasty action-for-action's-sake. Or populism,' weekly magazine Stern wrote in an editorial on its website. 'You can also tell a society that can handle the incomprehensible when it becomes clear it was a one-off case, extreme in every way. 'And, according to the rules of a humanitarian society, indeed - as terrible as it is - unpreventable.' The daily Die Welt noted a change in policy could have a chilling effect on people seeking the necessary treatment. 'Police also have the right... to a frank talk with a doctor without worrying that their employer will be told.' Meanwhile investigators sifting through the wreckage and hundreds of body parts in the French Alps were forced to resume the hunt on foot as bad weather hampered helicopter flights. 'The teams will get to the site via the path that is already in existence,' said Yves Naffrechoux from the local mountain police. Authorities are hoping to identify more DNA from the 150 people who died, as well as locate the jet's second black box that should provide more clues as to the circumstances of the tragedy. Forensic teams have isolated almost 80 distinct DNA strands from the shattered aircraft and have described the grim task as 'unprecedented' given the tricky mountain terrain and the speed at which the plane smashed into the rock.
Strict laws left it up to Andreas Lubitz to tell employers about health issues . But he tore up sick note on day of disaster with devastating consequences . Legislation brought in to stop a repeat of spying by Nazis and Stasi police . Debate rages in Germany over whether to loosen medical privacy laws .