Medical secret – legal basis of protection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/app2021.02.091Keywords:
human rights, medical law, medical deontology, medical secrecy, doctor, patient, medical information, confidential informationAbstract
The article considers the problematic issues of the institute of medical secrecy, due to including medical, ethical and legal factors. The peculiarity of medical secrecy, which distinguishes this institution from other concepts of deontology and other types of secrets, is revealed. It has been found that medical confidentiality is guaranteed by law, as well as by the establishment of certain prohibitions and legal liability for its disclosure. The normative legal acts that determine the legal regime of the medical secret and regulate the procedure of its disclosure are analyzed.
Having carefully analyzed the domestic legislation, cases have been identified in which medical secrecy may be disclosed without the consent of the person or his / her legal representatives, which are listed in this article. It was found that at this stage of development in Ukraine, medical secrecy is provided more by moral norms than by legal guarantees. Because, Art. 145 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to which liability for illegal disclosure of medical secrets in Ukraine remains almost unclaimed. However, at the moment, due to the situation of coronavirus disease in the world in general, and in Ukraine in particular, many health professionals are prosecuted for disclosing medical secrets. It was found that the knowledge of lawyers and physicians about the peculiarities of moral and legal aspects of the issue of medical secrecy is very important. The reasons for violating medical secrecy are ignorance of the law and misunderstanding of the harm that can be caused if the principle of confidentiality is violated.
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