Last update:
17-Jul-2000

Arch Hellen Med, 16(5), September-October 1999, 504-510

SPECIAL ARTICLE

Medical confidentiality
The “conventional” violations

K. MERAKOU,¹ A. DALLA,² D. THEODORIDIS^3
1National School of Public Health, Department of Public & Administrative Health, ²Journalist, ³NCE

Medical confidentiality is based on trust in the doctor-patient relationship. It comprises the ethical, deontological and legal duty of the doctor but also the inalienable right of the patient. In the modern practice patterns of health care, however, the protection of medical confidentiality is threatened, more than ever before. As an ethical rule, binds the doctor to secrecy and protects the patient confidentiality through its component three ethical values. Non-protection embodies danger for the medical relationship, for the individual patient and also for public health. In Greek legislation, the protection of medical confidentiality is ensured through provisions concerning the duties of doctors but also it is recognised as a part of the expression of inviolability and respect for the patient’s personality. The provisions of the relevant Greek legislation which form the context of the legal safeguarding of medi cal confidentiality are presented in this paper, along with its “conventional” violations which are considered as legal and unavoidable, but which function at the expense of the patient. It is concluded that perhaps legislative intervention is necessary for strengthening the protection conferred by medical confidentiality.

Key words: Medical confidentiality, Patients’ rights.