Posted by jane d on October 15, 2003, at 0:18:10
In reply to Re: My privacy rights with relatives' doctors? » jane d, posted by Penny on October 14, 2003, at 7:51:58
> I don't know that I would say your father's doc has any obligation to you to keep your information private, as he is not your treating physician. However, I'm not sure what purpose his sharing such info would serve, so I would imagine the information would stay with him. However, he, of course, would have an obligation to your father. I guess what I'm thinking of is that he could share such info with your father (if necessary), as your father is the patient and you are not, but wouldn't share it with outside parties.
>
> That would be my guess.Penny,
That's kind of the way I figure it would work in practice but I'd like to know if there are any ethical or legal restrictions on them or if I am just depending on their good will.
I wouldn't ask the doctor to keep anything from my father but I read an article recently that has bothered me since. I don't remember the exact details but it went something like this. A doctor, who was screening a man's children as potential transplant donors, discovered that one of them was not actually the son of his patient. The donor was a good match anyway so he decided to use him. What I remember clearly was that he chose NOT to tell his patient. Apparently he decided that, risky as a transplant is, his patient wasn't entitled to all the medical information available. If I were that patient I'd feel that the doctor had neglected his obligation to me and I'd be furious.
Jane
poster:jane d
thread:269208
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031011/msgs/269541.html