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Genetic information and the family : a challenge to medical confidentiality

Because of its perceived ability to predict future health and its relevance for family members, genetic information challenges the traditional justifications for medical confidentiality. This thesis examines the question whether a health care professional should have the discretion or a duty to breach confidentiality in order to inform a patient's relatives of their increased genetic risk. There is currently no exception to the statutory, common law and ethical duties of confidentiality for the non-consensual disclosure of genetic information to relatives. Precedents developed in the context of threats of harm and communicable diseases are of limited value. The law should not recognise the existence of a duty to warn in the context of genetics. As a last resort, health care professionals should be authorized, but not required, to disclose genetic risk information when there is a serious risk of preventable harm and when the potential harm of non-disclosure outweighs that of disclosure.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.80935
Date January 2003
CreatorsLacroix, Mireille, 1971-
ContributorsGlass, Kathleen Cranley (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Laws (Institute of Comparative Law.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 002085584, proquestno: AAIMQ98800, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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