What You Can Do If Your Doctor Breaks Doctor-Patient Confidentiality
Finding out that you have a major medical problem can be devastating. Even more devastating is when your doctor breaks doctor-patient confidentiality and reveals that diagnosis. Doctors are bound to protect your medical information and history. However, this doesn't always happen. This is a form of medical negligence. If you are suffering consequences because your doctor broke doctor-patient confidentiality, you might be able to file a medical negligence lawsuit against him or her.
What is medical negligence?
When you hear of medical negligence cases, it often involves mistakes made during medical procedures, but this is not the only issue that falls into medical negligence. Medical negligence can also include:
- Misdiagnosing health issues
- Late diagnosis of health issues
- Breach of doctor-patient confidentiality
When you visit a doctor, he or she can only discuss your health with you, the staff in the clinic, and any other professionals that may be involved with your health (such as a specialist or hospital that performs tests). If your doctor leaks any information, it would be considered a breach of confidentiality, and you would have the right to seek compensation for this.
How can you prove this?
If you decide to take action against your doctor for a breach of confidentiality, you will need to prove several things, which include:
- That the doctor told someone – The first thing to prove is that the information actually came from the doctor or the clinic he or she works for. You may be able to prove this by having one or more witnesses that can attest to this.
- The leak of information caused harm – The second thing you will need to prove is that the breach of confidentiality hurt you. For example, if your boss found out about your health issue and fired you because of it, you could use this as evidence of harm. A leak of medical information could also cause you embarrassment and other types of emotional trauma.
In some cases, breaches of confidentiality can occur in indirect ways. For example, if a hacker tapped into the doctor's computer system and stole the information, this could still be considered medical negligence; however, the doctor would not be directly responsible for a breach of confidentiality.
If you are struggling in a situation like this, you can take action by talking to an attorney that specializes in medical negligence. For more information, contact a professional like Davidson Law Center Inc.