COVID-19 patients, PUIs urged to waive confidentiality of medical condition

Groups of doctors and the organization of Philippine lawyers have urged COVID-19 patients and those under investigation to voluntarily waive the confidentiality of their medical condition and inform those they have been in close contact with.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine, and the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. said the confidentiality of a patient's medical information is "not absolute."

"Being diagnosed as COVID-19+ is not a sin, a crime, or a stigma," they said in a joint statement over the weekend.

"But it is inequitable and counter-productive for COVID 19 patients or PUI’s to conceal their true condition thereby possibly infecting health workers and depriving those with whom they may have been in close contact the opportunity to take the necessary precautionary or remedial measures," they added.

They said patients and PUIs will help their family members, friends, co-workers, and the people they have been in close contact with by being honest about their condition.

The IBP has earlier called out acts of discrimination against frontliners and patients.

The lawyers' and doctors' groups said the Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession provides exceptions to the confidentiality of patient data, such as "when required by law, ordinance or administrative order in the promotion of justice, safety and public health."

They also said the Health Privacy Code Specifying the Joint A.O. No. 2016-0002 also provides that the disclosure of health information to "any other government agency" may be done without a court order "in case of emergency, where time is of the essence."

They said existing laws and rules give the government "sufficient authority and basis" to lift the confidentiality of the medical condition of COVID-19 patients and PUIs.

They urged the government to "prudently" and "promptly" share medical information, "with adequate safeguards," to the concerned authorities and persons to enable them to take the appropriate measures.

"The present pandemic requires proactive and decisive steps that must be based on facts, science, and the law, not on politics, posturing, or partiality," they said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he supports this call.

"This will enable other people they have been in close contact with to take the necessary precautions or remedial measures to protect themselves, without having to further burden the DOH with the tedious task of contact tracing," he said.

"Both the Philippine Medical Association and the Data Privacy Commission provide the ethical and legal basis for this action in times of public health emergency, and the DOJ affirms its validity," he added. --KBK, GMA News