Dissertation
Medisch beroepsgeheim en de zorgplicht van de arts bij kindermishandeling in de rechtsverhouding tussen arts, kind en ouders
On 19 February 2019, Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm defended her thesis 'Medisch beroepsgeheim en de zorgplicht van de arts bij kindermishandeling in de rechtsverhouding tussen arts, kind en ouders'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. A.G. Castermans en Prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker.
- Author
- Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm
- Date
- 19 February 2019
- Links
- Leiden Repository
If doctors suspect that their child patient is being abused, are they obliged to observe their duty of medical confidentiality or not? Recently, several legislative and administrative choices have been made to combat child abuse. These focus on revealing confidential information despite the obligation to respect medical confidentiality. The paradigm seems to have shifted from remaining silent-unless to speaking-unless. This shift calls for a study on how the legislative and administrative choices for revealing information can be framed in the light of the existing and well-accepted exceptions to medical confidentiality, which depart from the principle that the doctor is silent-unless.
This thesis offers an analysis of the most important norms for medical confidentiality and for its breach by doctors and their implications in the context of child abuse. Moreover, it provides an understanding of the role and added value of the duty of care in this respect. It changes the dogmatic view on the concept of medical confidentiality in case of child abuse.