A question on Doctor-Patient confidentiality?
If a patient is told by his doctor he has a life threatening std, is the doctor legally obstructed from telling the patient's spouse should the patient request he not?
Answers:
I believe so, in the USA. The rules probably vary by nation.
There is a federal medical privacy law called HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act
it covers which persons may access what parts of a patient's records, and divulge the information to what other people, under what circumustances.
I suggest you do an Internet search on HIPAA, if you are in the USA, or search on "medical privacy" if you are in some other nation.
That depends on local laws concerning control of communicable diseases. In nearly all cases, they are legally obligated to report the problem to the local disease control center.
In any event, it's pretty contemptible, not to mention futile, to try to hide something from a partner that may be life threatening to them. Do you suppose that they won't notice catching it?
First - you must really love your spouse to want to expose them to a life threatening STD.
Second - Laws vary by state and the Federal Privacy laws may not apply to the doctor telling your spouse that they should be tested for the STD. He would not have to tell him/her why they should be tested. And the doctor could always say they were giving sound medical advise to the spouse without even mentioning your name.
How long do you think it will take for your spouse to figure it out?
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