Protecting Patient Privacy or Serving Public Interests
Challenges to Medical Confidentiality in Imperial Germany
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12208754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andreas‐holger Maehle (0000-0002-6119-6129, Durham University, corresponding author), A-H Maehle |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 383-401 |
| Publication date | 2003-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social History of Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0951-631X • E-ISSN: 1477-4666 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/shm/16.3.383 |
| OpenAlex | W2089205279 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
With the Penal Code of 1871, confidentiality became a legal requirement for physicians, surgeons, and other health professions throughout Imperial Germany. However, based on an analysis of the relevant legal cases up to the First World War, this article argues that the professional secrecy of German doctors was increasingly challenged by an ethos that put public interests before patient privacy. This development became particularly tangible in cases of venereal disease, or when interests of the state in criminal prosecution were involved. Yet, medical confidentiality was still better protected in Imperial Germany than in contemporary Britain
Confidentiality · Ethos · Family medicine · German · Medical profession · Political science · Public health · Right to privacy · Secrecy · State (computer science · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Medical History and Research · Medicine · Nursing · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,1 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2006 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |