Schweigepflicht und Patientenrechte
Ausgabe: 3/2005
(nur Online verfügbar)
51. Jahrgang
Schweigepflicht bei sexuell übertragbaren Krankheiten aus der Sicht des Ethikers
The aim of the duty of confidentiality is not only to protect the right of privacy for individual persons in case of a sexually transmittable disease. The aim is rather to warrant treatment and to prevent harm to those who are primarily or secondarily affected. Any conflict of values, e. g. in the case of Aids, cannot be solved by explicating in which cases communicating the diagnosis and other relevant information about the patient may take priority over his privacy. The physicians duty of confidentiality must be interpreted as a duty of treatment. Therefore we must focus on the doctor-patient-relationship and the relationship between patients and their loved ones. Reducing fear is paramount. Only then can dilemmas like those discussed be handled and solved rationally. Their ethical regulation is set out in four points requiring that the goals and limits of confidentiality are set out before treatment begins.
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