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To the Editor: In their Commentary, Drs Robinson and O’Neill¹ state that "to prevent erosion of the right to confidentiality after death, it is important that physicians and other health care workers strive to ensure that this confidentiality is preserved to the maximum degree possible." This is actually a familiar concept in the US medical ethics tradition.

The policy of the American Medical Association (AMA) provides clear guidelines for physicians who are faced with requests to disclose medical information after a patient's death. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics² states that medically related confidences and information contained within a deceased patient's medical record "should be kept confidential to the greatest possible degree." This ethical standard is almost identical to that suggested by Robinson and O’Neill.

In addition, the AMA ethical opinion² suggests that confidentiality of medical information postmortem receive the same protection as information would receive in life. Medical information . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Robert M. Sade, MD
lee.black@ama-assn.org
American Medical Association
Chicago, Ill