At 18:51 13-08-1996 +0100, you wrote:
>What do GP-UKers think is the "right answer to this?
>
>You hear on the radio that an ex-patient of yours is wanted and on the
>run for murder. You know that you have very detailed computer records on
>him, up to the time that he left your list, which might be of assistance
>to the police.
>
>Do you ring the police and tell them his confidential past history?
I'd say the answer is no, _unless_ there is a fair amount of evidence
suggesting that someone else risks being harmed (or killed) by the patient.
I don't think a past (even if unpunished) crime can be used as a reason to
disclose confidential information.
This is the reverse of the usual story of the carrier of an infectious
disease that may infect others around him/her, but insists on keeping the
disease under cover - a case with harmful _future_ implications for a third
party.
Armando
=======================
Armando Brito de Sa'
Lisboa, Portugal
[log in to unmask]
=======================
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|