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• International Codes of Sport Medicine
  Fernando Verdu
  Published on: 3 September 2008

• Published on: 3 September 2008

  International Codes of Sport Medicine

  • Fernando Verdu, Professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine
  • Other Contributors:
    • Francesc Frances, Assistant Professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine. Ana Castello, Professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine. University of Valencia.

  Dear Sir:

  To improve the accurate clinical ethics research made by Anderson (1) about confidentiality in sport medicine, we must take into consideration the existence of two international codes on the issue.

  First, the World Medical Association Declaration on Principles of Health Care For Sports Medicine (2), adopted by the 34th World Medical Association General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1981 and...

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  Dear Sir:

  To improve the accurate clinical ethics research made by Anderson (1) about confidentiality in sport medicine, we must take into consideration the existence of two international codes on the issue.

  First, the World Medical Association Declaration on Principles of Health Care For Sports Medicine (2), adopted by the 34th World Medical Association General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1981 and revised last time in the 51st World Medical Association General Assembly, in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1999.

  In this policy is stated:

  ‘In sports medicine, as in all other branches of medicine, professional confidentiality must be observed. The right to privacy over medical attention the athlete has received must be protected, especially in the case of professional athletes’.

  The second document is the Code of Ethics (3) of the International Federation of Sport Medicine (IFSM).

  There we can read the following sentences:

  ‘The athlete's right to privacy must be protected. The regulations regarding medical records in health care and medicine shall also be applied in the field of sports medicine. The sports medicine physician should maintain a complete and accurate record of the patient.

  In view of the strong public and media interest in the health of athletes, the physician should decide with the athlete what information can be released for public distribution.

  When serving as a team physician, the sports medicine physician assumes the responsibility to athletes as well as team administrators and coaches. It is essential that each athlete is informed of that responsibility and authorizes disclosure of otherwise confidential medical information, but solely to the specific responsible persons and for the expressed purpose of determining the fitness of the athlete for participation’.

  However, as in other aspects of professional practice, the best tool for solve a problem, is to think about the confronted values.

  It is good to have rules, but it is better to reasoning about the problem and obtain a response.

  Then, we can check if my own response is one of the stated rules.

  We declare that we have not conflict of interest.

  1. Anderson L. Contractual obligations and the sharing of confidential health information in sport. J Med Ethics 2008;34:e6

  2. http://www.wma.net/e/policy/h14.htm (access on 2008/08/30)

  3. http://www.fims.org (access on 2008/08/30)

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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