Medical confidentiality and the right of a close relative of a patient to medical information - a contribution to the discussion

The purpose of this article is to attempt to present the medical law institution of medical confidentiality, defining it, highlighting its most important features and then contrasting it with the right to medical information of a patient's relative. as a right competing with the need for medical confidentiality. The paper begins with a description of the right to privacy as a source of medical confidentiality. This is followed by an attempt to define the subjective and objective scope of the confidentiality obligations imposed on the providers of medical services, while also indicating the situations in which this obligation is abrogated. Medical confidentiality is presented as an obligation of medical personnel reflecting the patient's right to information, with particular reference to the right of access to medical records. The thesis is put forward that the patient is the only holder of information about himself/herself who has the right to voluntarily extend this right to others through authorisation. On the contrary, specific legal norms are formulated for these considerations, which give the right to medical information about the patient's health status to persons close to the patient, without the consent or knowledge of the person concerned. Particular attention is paid to the provisions concerning the application of medical confidentiality after the death of the patient. In the course of the dispute, doubts arise as to the correctness of the introduction of the provisions in question into the Polish legal order
http://zn.wsbip.edu.pl/wydania/zeszyt2/sekcjaB/zeszyt_b.pdf#page=27