ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the duty of confidence is not absolute and there are circumstances in which medical information can be divulged. The law of confidentiality, like the law of negligence and the law of nuisance, requires a balance to be struck. The law on confidentiality will protect a variety of types of information, imparted in a variety of different situations. A rights-based approach might regard the duty of keeping confidences as a respect for the right to privacy. American litigation in the field of birth control and abortion for minors proceeds by considering the extent of constitutional rights to privacy. A more appropriate way of achieving the same end would have been for such claims to be subject to the consent of the claimant to the disclosure of all relevant medical records. The Access to Health Records Act 1990 and the Data Protection Act 1984 both contained exemptions, enabling data/record holders to withhold access to medical records in certain circumstances.
