In the Public Interest

When does some public good override psychiatric confidentiality? Dinah's post yesterday outlined the recent issue in the Navy's public release of the shooter's psychiatric treatment information. I wrote about this issue before following the release of the expert behavioral analysis panel's report on the suspected anthrax mailer, Dr. Bruce Ivins. In both cases, the rationale for releasing detailed information about the decedent's psychiatric care was cited as being a need to ensure that the government was taking appropriate steps to safeguard public safety. Following release of the EBAP report, the government---without admitting fault---agreed to pay 2.5 million dollars to the widow of the first anthrax victim.As I commented on Dinah's post, in Maryland there is an extensive list of statutory execeptions to medical confidentiality: with a patient's written consent upon receipt of a valid court order or subpoena in emergency situations when a patient is dangerous in cases of child abuse during civil commitment proceedings when the clinician is under investigation for fraud, abuse, or other criminal activity when the patient puts his mental state at issue in a civil or criminal case during hospital review, for quality control when billing for payment, with patient's written consent in case of an HIV-positive patient's high risk behavior when the patient is incarcerated in an adult or juvenile correctional facility when an involuntary patient elopes from a hospital if an interest...
Source: Shrink Rap - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs