ABSTRACT
The duty of confidentiality is the axiomatic pivot upon which the medical profession rotates. The rationale is to ensure that patients and health users feel free to disclose any information about their health to a medical practitioner in order to ensure that adequate treatment is provided. Thus, any information obtained by a medical practitioner in the course of his duty as such is privileged, and generally, cannot be disclosed to a third party. This is an ethical duty as it is in contained in the Hippocratic Oath which all medical practitioners are sworn to, as well as a legal duty as it has now been codified in various domestic and international instruments on the subject. However, the duty is not an absolute one. In certain circumstances, a medical practitioner may be allowed to disclose information which otherwise ought to be confidential. This paper seeks to examine the nature, scope and limits of this duty vis a vis the existing legal framework in Nigeria. Finally, it contains recommendations which may be useful to medical practitioners in as it relates to the discharge of this sacred duty to their patients.
Okeke, Miracle, Medical Practitioners’ Duty of Confidentiality in Nigeria: The Legal Perspective (February 12, 2022).
First posted 2022-02-19 16:00:22
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