Patients need to be aware that they are fully responsible for disclosing a complete medical history, and physicians may not be liable for damages if they do not comply.
Defense of the position that patient-psychiatrist confidentiality should be absolute, otherwise patient trust is eroded is serious ways that affect the ability of all physicians to help their patients.
Defense of the argument that psychiatrists have a responsibility to warn the proper authorities if there is reasonable concern that a patient poses a threat to the safety of others.
An ethical case explores whether a medical student doing a radiology rotation has a duty to inform a patient whose chest x-ray shows bony metastases that was not caught by the original radiologist or mentioned in the ED chart.
Physicians should be diligent in taking a medical history, adhering to the standard of care and documenting their actions during every patient encounter, particularly when there is no established patient-physician relationship.
Physicians need to exhaust every possible alternative to bring about political changes before resorting to breaking the law as an act of civil disobedience.