Breach of Confidentiality Research Paper

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Breach Of Confidentiality Ashley Morton Rasmussen College Author Note This research paper is being submitted on June 08, 2014 for Susan Finneman’s M230 Medical Law and Ethics course. Breach Of Confidentiality “An important and often misunderstood concept in health care is privacy and confidentiality” Starr (2012). A breach of confidentiality is the unauthorized release of any information of a patients, this could be medical records, treatment photos, or anything private or said in confidentiality. The patient-doctor relationship is a binding contract whether verbal or written and with that contract there are certain duties expected for the physician and all medical staff to uphold, one of those being confidentiality. Patients expect that physicians and staff take every precaution available to protect their private information and maintain confidentiality. There is an ethical duty for health care employees to uphold a high standard of confidentiality, however in many situations breaches can easily happen whether unintentional or intentional. A case of an intentional breach of confidentiality with one physician happened at Longton Health Centre in Lancashire in the UK. Dr. Peter Robinson admitted to two breaches of confidentiality, one such incident in which he openly discussed a patient’s sexual problems in a letter to a friend and another breach happened when he revealed to his girlfriend in an email that one of his patients was using Viagra. There was a 3 day hearing in Manchester and the doctor openly admitted to the breaches and was very apologetic for them. He was suspended for 6 months. The panel acknowledged that his actions took place during his divorce and were not normal behavior for him however no matter the situation there will always be consequences. “The panel has determined that a period of suspension would be appropriate and

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