Medical Ethics and Law: Confidentiality

The original source of a doctor’s duty of confidentiality is the Hippocratic Oath. Regarding
confidentiality Hippocrates said: ‘Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not
in connection with it, I see or hear in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I
will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret.’ The obligation of
confidentiality spoken of here is not absolute; it is up to the doctor to decide what information
‘ought not to be spoken abroad.’ Another Oath of confidentiality is the Declaration of Geneva
which says: ‘I will respect the secrets confided in me, even after the patient has died.’ Here,
however, the obligation is absolute. These are two sources of a doctor’s duty of confidentiality
which, although they differ in extent, both highlight the importance of respecting the
confidentiality of patients. J NI Ethics Forum 2006, 3: 146-153

Read more: http://www.qub.ac.uk/methics/BrooksK.pdf