This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (11)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

The Disintegrating Right of Privacy in the Physician-Patient Relationship

Jeremy Sugarman, MD; Madison Powers, JD, DPhil

JAMA. 1991;266(23):3323-3327.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

THE importance of unrestricted communication within the physician-patient relationship has long been recognized in American jurisprudence. In what appears to be a significant departure from established precedent, the Supreme Court recently upheld a US Department of Health and Human Services regulation prohibiting recipients of Title X familyplanning funds from discussing the option of abortion with their pregnant patients.¹ The decision in Rust v Sullivan raises a number of questions about the nature and scope of the legal right of privacy in the patient-physician relationship. Although the decision may reflect the controversies surrounding abortion, its implications for the physician-patient relationship extend into other arenas of medical care. Such a decision highlights the urgent need for patients, policymakers, and health care professionals to examine the proper role of governmental regulation of communication between patients and physicians.

This article provides a brief sketch of governmental regulation affecting the physician-patient relationship and explores . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Division of Internal Medicine, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Program in Law, Ethics and Health, The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md (Dr Sugarman); and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and the Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Dr Powers).

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Division of Internal Medicine, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1830 E Monument St, 8th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205 (Dr Sugarman).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?