Law 3101A/B Chapter 11: Disclosure
Document Summary
Implicit common law right to disclose confidential patient information without consent in: compassionate situations; and in undertaking an internal audit, quality assurance measures and other routine management tasks. Implicit common law right to disclose confidential information arises when a person applies for a benefit, exemption, placement, referral, or reference. However, it may be prudent to get explicit consent in these circumstances (e. g. info is highly sensitive sexual, emotional or legally sensitive, plaintiff is challenging/hard to serve) An implicit common law right to disclose confidential information will be negated by an express refusal. I. e. implied consent is always trumped by expressed refusal: however, a healthcare professional does not need to comply with every request of a patient if it renders the treatment dangerous/futile. (b) explicit consent. The common law, equitable, professional, and statutory confidentiality principles always recognizes the (cid:396)ight to dis(cid:272)lose patie(cid:374)t i(cid:374)fo(cid:396)(cid:373)atio(cid:374) (cid:449)ith the patie(cid:374)t"s e(cid:454)pli(cid:272)it (cid:272)o(cid:374)se(cid:374)t.
