Open AccessLetter to the Editors. Professional confidentiality applicable to psychiatrists
Author(s) -
Elwira Marszałkowska-Krześ
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychiatria polska
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2391-5854
pISSN - 0033-2674
DOI - 10.12740/pp/43445
Subject(s) - confidentiality , duty , mental health , duty to warn , law enforcement , medical information , interpretation (philosophy) , enforcement , law , duty to protect , internet privacy , psychology , medicine , business , psychiatry , political science , computer science , family medicine , programming language
Psychiatrists performing activities under the Mental Health Protection Act who in connection with their performance of such activities become aware of information that, if kept confidential, can constitute a threat to the life or health of the patient or other people, are released from the duty to keep such information confidential. In such a case, they have a moral and legal duty to disclose such information to law enforcement authorities and cannot be prosecuted under criminal law for disclosing such confidential information. An attempt to interrogate a physician who files such a report regarding circumstances of which he became aware while performing activities under the Mental Health Protection Act will, however, be illegal. Yet, that leads to disputes and controversies in the medical and legal communities, and, therefore, the issue requires a prompt, uniform interpretation. Due to the expected increase in attempted dyadic deaths (after the Germanwings plane crash,) the problem should be carefully regulated so that psychiatrists know the legal boundaries of dealing with patients - potential suicides.