Ethics and biomedical information

Ethical rules are similar for physicians in most countries that follow the Hippocratic oath. They have no formal legal force, but can be used as a reference to provide answers to solve individual cases. It appears erroneous to believe that privacy is about information. It is about relationship. In medicine, there is a contract between a patient and a physician, where health care personnel has to respect secrecy, while integrity and availability of information should be obtained for continuity of care. These somewhat contradictory objectives have to be applied very carefully to computerised biomedical information. Ethical principles have to be made clear to everyone, and society should lake the necessary steps to organise their enforcement. Several examples are given in the delivery of health care, telediagnosis, patient follow-up. clinical research as well as possible breakthroughs that could jeopardise privacy, using biomedical information. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.