This seminal book delivers an international examination of the duty of medical confidentiality and a patient’s right to privacy in the face of contemporary developments such as cyber-security, patient autonomy, and the greater reliance on telemedicine post the Covid-19 pandemic. Thierry Vansweevelt and Nicola Glover-Thomas bring together esteemed academics from across the globe to deliver an international perspective on medical confidentiality. Uniquely combining the concerns of patient privacy and data protection law, chapters are separated by global regions and outline a number of theoretical arguments supported by case-specific studies. Contributors assess which healthcare providers are bound by the duty of confidentiality, which information is secret, the exceptions to confidentiality, special cases such as genetics and privacy, and liability in cases of negligence. Privacy and Medical Confidentiality in Healthcare will be of great interest to legal academics, students and researchers working in health law, data protection law and cyber law as well as scholars specialising in medicine and healthcare. The book’s focus on effective healthcare and protecting patient privacy will also benefit legal practitioners and professionals working in healthcare, social care, and data management.

Informed consent is the legal instrument that purports to protect an individual's autonomy and defends against medical arbitrariness. Informed Consent and Health highlights that possession of complete information about all relevant aspects of a proposed treatment is integral to the ability of a patient to make an informed choice. With patient choice at both legislative and judicial levels rising to greater levels of prominence, this timely book examines how the tensions between the rights of patients to make choices and the duties of doctors to provide health care are managed. This illuminating book investigates our evolving understanding of informed consent from a range of comparative and international perspectives, demonstrating the diversity of its interpretations around the world. Chapters offer a nuanced analysis of the problems that impede the understanding and implementation of the concept of informed consent and explore the contemporary challenges that continue to hinder both the patient and the medical community. Containing an in-depth discussion on this fundamental right, this thought-provoking book will be of value to academics and practitioners alike. Providing fascinating insight into new solutions and interpretations, this book will also prove a key resource for clinicians and health care workers. Contributors include: B. Buchner, S.C. Chima, I. Freckelton, R. Fretwell Wilson, N. Glover-Thomas, M. Hartlev, Y. Joly, V.G. Mammadov, G. Marrocco, Y.V. Pavlova, M. Pinkesz, S.I. Pospelova, V.L. Raposo, Y.D. Sergeyev, T. Vansweevelt, M.H. Zawati