ISSUES IN MEDICAL CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROTECTION OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN MEDICAL PRACTICE: CASE STUDY OF COVID 19 PATIENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53704/fulaj.v1i1.518Abstract
Medical confidentiality and disclosure of information in the public interest in medical practice is always a difficult situation to manage by all medical practitioners. Hence, there is need for explicit and clear understanding of it within the context of the existing legal framework for medical practice. The paper examines legal and ethical issues of medical confidentiality as it affects medical practice and the protection of public interest in Nigeria, particularly in doctor – patient relationship. It discusses conceptual analysis of medical confidentiality in medical practice. It examines the issue of doctor – patient relationship(DPR) and how the relationship protects medical confidentiality. The study thereafter analyses the types of public interest that exists in medical practice and the protection of public interest, with cases of situations where conflict exists between the public interest and medical confidentiality especially as it relates to COVID 19 patients. The study concludes that in case of conflict between the public interest and the medical confidentiality, the former shall prevail within context of the existing rules and legal framework in medical practice.
Keywords: Medical confidentiality, Doctors, Patients, Issues, COVID19, Medical Practice and Public interest.
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