PROFESSIONAL SECRET OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND REASONS FOR DISCLOSURE

Abstract

The prevalent objective of the present article is to analyze reasons for disclosure of professional secret in health care, particularly that of physicians, and to evaluate whether such disclosure amounts to grave unconscionable conduct; what would the exceptions be from the duty to keep a secret and whether they are justified, from the point of view of our national and foreign legal theory, domestic and foreign law, Directive 95/24 EC on the protection of personal data, Directive R/97/5 on the protection of medical data, case law and professional rules in the medical profession.

After the general legal issues about professional secret of health care workers are presented, reasons for its disclosure are observed in detail, with a special reference to case law of the British judiciary.