Limits of confidentiality: to disclose or not to disclose.
editorial · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 23890445.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.jvs.2013.05.047.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
A patient who sustained a gunshot wound to a femoral artery you repaired yesterday is doing well and is very grateful. He is a security guard who got involved in a gunfight with criminals and is chatty. He recently had a strong analgesia injection, relaxing inhibitions and loosening his tongue. He asks if what he tells you is strictly confidential and you reply yes, it is. He remarks on how lucky he is now and years before. It seems, when young, he killed a man over a drug deal gone badly. He ascribes his luck to the fact that another man was convicted and is spending life in the "big house." What should you do?
Medical subject headings
- Analgesics
- Communication
- Homicide
- Physician-Patient Relations
- Truth Disclosure