ETHICS OF RESEARCH PUBLISHING

Confidentiality and the ethics of medical ethics

W A Rogers¹ and H Draper²

¹ Department of General Practice, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK^,*
2 Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Department of Primary Care, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr H Draper, Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Department of Primary Care, Primary care Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK;
h.draper{at}bham.ac.uk

In this paper we consider the use of cases in medical ethics research and teaching. To date, there has been little discussion about the consent or confidentiality requirements that ought to govern the use of cases in these areas. This is in marked contrast to the requirements for consent to publish cases in clinical journals, or to use personal information in research. There are a number of reasons why it might be difficult to obtain consent to use cases in ethics. Many cases concern people who are incompetent, and thus unable to give consent. Often the material is of a sensitive nature, it is not clear who should give consent, or the ethicist has no access to those involved. We argue that the use of cases in ethics research and teaching can be justified by appeal to the public interest argument, and suggest a number of areas for discussion and clarification.

Keywords: confidentiality; professional ethics; publication ethics; consent; case studies

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Newson, A. J, Sheather, J. (2008). Commentary: Consent and confidentiality in publishing--the view of the BMJ's ethics committee. BMJ 337: a1232-a1232 [Full Text]  
• Oberklaid, F. (2008). Commentary: Consent to publication--no absolutes. BMJ 337: a1233-a1233 [Full Text]  
• Draper, H., Rogers, W. (2005). Re-evaluating confidentiality: using patient information in teaching and publications. Adv. Psychiatr. Treat. 11: 115-124 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Newson, A. J (2004). Consent to the publication of patient information: Incompetent patients may pose a problem. BMJ 329: 916-916 [Full Text]  
• Draper, H., Rogers, W. (2004). Consent to the publication of patient information: More on confidentiality and case material. BMJ 329: 916-916 [Full Text]  

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Re: Rogers and Draper: Confidentiality and the ethics

Susanne McCabe (Stevens)

JME Online, 17 Dec 2003 [Full text]