confidencial?

a friend of mine went through some tough times last year and has been seeing a psychologist for some time. I know he has talked about taking drugs and gone into quite detail about his experiences blah blah blah.... i am afraid that my name has been mentioned, as he is a good friend of mine and i have been taking drugs with him for some time.
so the question is... am i covered by the doctor/patient confidenciality laws by proxy?

Yes.

Yeah, no need to worry dude - the cops have got better things to do than catch one individual user whos name they got from a psychologist who was treating a person who happened to use drugs with you a few times...
On an unrelated matter, good to see you back on bluelight!!! Now get your friggen ICQ fixed...

Yes indeed dustoff, welcome back.
Now, is this psychologist a school psychologist? If so, jump on it right away, they're rarely descreet and while they "have the best intentions at heart" are not to be trusted.
A professional pyschologist you'll be sweet with.

Sweet, figured as much, just thought id be on the safe side....
havnt been online in a while...*%#$@^* ISP's rah rah rah...

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"DJs are like shamans, forging musical paths to other realms....."

Can't say I agree in my experience, not one bit.
Doctors and people in the medical sector will keep information confidential, if they feel your in no danger of doing harm to yourself or anyone else - they stretch this to the limit. Don't tell your doctor anything, ever.
Especially if you have a doctor who's spoken to your parents or a doctor who you go to regularly.

Ummmmm, or you could tell your doctor everything, and then if you happen to be in any trouble for some reason your doctor will actually be able to help you.
It's that or you can lie to the person who is trying to help you, and end up in more trouble than you could ever be with your parents...
It just depends whether you value your life more than your parents judgement.

Thats crap, doctor patient confidentiality can only be breached in EXTREME circumstances. Anything else can invite accusations of malpractice, which everyone in the profession avoids like the plague. Doctors are in it to help you, not rat to your parents... Besides, If you are 18 or over you are responsible for you OWN welfare so they have no recourse to use breach your privacy to them.
My dad is a doc, I have had discussions about this with him before...

-Troth, I don't care if your daddy is frank spencer. I am speaking from personal experience and others experience. Moreover, a parent can request information, specific or otherwise, leave the room, come back in, and be told the news - this is what happened to me.
Pleonastic, that was a very nice passage, just like a confident, though elementary argumentative. The only problem with it is this, in the real world to get along your required to listen to others views, as opposed to admiring your own as it's being written. it's like *whoa!* gee that was a good point I just made, forget the truth, I just made a well *sounding* point.
Don't tell Doctors anything unless your concerned about your OWN welfare and feel it needs to be told.
Simon

NiQu3LorD You would have justification to make a complaint to the AMA and if you had any evidence of this breach of confidentiality there WOULD be action taken.
I also have personal experience in this matter. Doctors, whether they be g.p's or pyschiatrists/pyschologists they just cant get away with that shit.
Perhaps a school counceller but who gives a shit about them?
What harm can words do anyway? If your crazy druggo friend drops your name, what can happen without proof.
If they're your friend will they drop you in shit?

NiQu3LorD: I am in no way disputing your past experiences and can see how this can happen. However I would see this as being more a case of you having a bad doctor. Just as a confidential relationship exists between a lawyer and their client, the same fiduciary duty exists between a doctor and their patient. To break that trust is a breach of law. There are occasions when they can do it (ie: when you're in a coma) and also instances when they must do it (ie: abuse of a child), but this is rare. The same must apply to a psychologist.
What does that mean in the real world: not much. If you're a kid and/or you don't have the cash you've got an uphill battle. But I urge you to complain to the relevant authority to ensure that person does not do it to the next person.
You need to tell doctors the full story, because they are after all the trained professional. They cannot make a proper diagnosis without knowing the full story. If they ask you a question they are asking you for a reason. You mightn't see the reasoning, but then we haven't attended medical school for six years.
Dustoff: The information should be confidential always. Another point which should ease your mind is that even if it was disclosed to a court by the psychologist it is heresay and isn't worth a dead cat.

shtonkalot, well that may be the case, and I have no reason to believe your a liar.
But the extreme cases -Thoths daddy has told him aren't all that extreme. In fact ill go further it's a pure falsification, the mere fact that a parent has gone to the doctor and says "oh mr Dr palease help me my son may be taking drugs and I'm worried, could you have a talk to him?"is reason enough. Furthermore if your 18 and living at home your not viewed as independent. Still further, I could call the welfare department up and say I'm worried about my friend or in fact, anybody. If I put the point across strongly enough that the persons life is in danger, they're obligated to contact a caring 3rd person or guardian.
The bottom line is this, if it's being debated, it has some risk associated with it.
Simon.
[This message has been edited by NiQu3LorD (edited 05 August 2001).]

Pundi, hindsight tells me to agree with you, I had a bad doctor, but my point is I had no idea he was a bad doctor until it was too late. My case is less relevent than a friend of mines, as his was drug related, mine was for depression and I was 15, my friend is 20 and supposedly with a well respected doctor, who has been funneling info out of him for the past couple of yrs at his fathers request.
The most disturbing thing in my case was that I attended the doctor with my mum, she told the doctor the situation while I was there, we all agreed that she'd leave the room so I could talk to the doctor about it, they left the room for 2min as she was leaving. He came back in, asked me a whole heap of questions, told me specifically he would keep it confidential, I trusted him, told him the answers he was looking for. He invited my mum back into the room, told her flat out what I'd just told him - without even getting me to leave the room to save my ears from the blatent deceit.
Simon

NiQu3LorD, While I sympathise with your past experience and agree that you have been maligned, much of what you say is erroneous.
To settle this let me direct you to this extract from the AMA code of ethics, under the section "Responsibilities to Patients."
The rest can be found Here.

1.3.4 Keep in confidence information derived from your patient, or from a colleague regarding your patient, and divulge it only with the patient's permission. Exceptions may arise where the health of others is at risk or you are required by order of a court to breach patient confidentiality.

Click to expand...

Notice that the only exception here is when the health of others is at risk... Not your own. Therefore, no matter how much your mother wants to know, your doctor is professionally bound not to divulge it without your permission. Anything else is malpractice. If your doctor has not honoured your rights then you should contact the AMA and lodge a complaint, rather than throwing up a bunch of conjecture. The medical proffesion at large relies upon patient trust and take these claims very seriously. Once again, I cannot excuse what happened to you, but making comments like:

Don't tell your doctor anything, ever.

Click to expand...

and,

But the extreme cases -Thoths daddy has told him aren't all that extreme. In fact ill go further it's a pure falsification, the mere fact that a parent has gone to the doctor and says "oh mr Dr palease help me my son may be taking drugs and I'm worried, could you have a talk to him?"is reason enough.

Click to expand...

Are not only completely unresearched and misinformed, but irresponsible. How many people may risk their health by not informing their doctor of the facts of their condition because of stuff like this? Your doctor was a deceitful bastard, and has done nothing for your faith in medical folks in general, but why tar everybody with the same brush?
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The woods are dark and deep, and you have miles to go before you sleep...
[This message has been edited by -Thoth (edited 05 August 2001).]

-Thoth, let me first just say, your use of quotes definetly heightens my respect for you a great deal.
Now. To reiterrate, ill put it in point form for you:-
- A Doctor may disclose information to concerned parties at the discretion of his own percieved understanding of what the patient in question's situation is; going by what the patient has disclosed. i.e It is by his own willingness to catagorise a particular case as 'extreme'.
- You knew full well when quoting me:"don't tell your doctor anything, ever" That it was in the context of the posters concerns about doctors' divulgence of mere recreational drug use.
Youv'e basically been trying to indoctrinate with your own faith in the medical community, by going over the same points. Are you under the impression I'm not comprehending what your telling me? That there are laws to stop Doctors from disclosing information held in confidence? I can assure you I do, and I believe you. I'm simply giving people an opposing view on the matter:
- In my experience, doctors may not be trustworthy in sensitive situations.
- I have clearly already said that I have no reason to believe your not being truthful to the best you know. I've simply been stating that I believe Doctors may be too quick to catagorise a persons situation as extreme, hense divulging it to third parties.
- I have no hard feelings towards the medical community, they are oustanding minds. It was a long time ago, and the matter wasn't to serious, I was over it by the next trip to the doctor, I was simply digging up the facts for this topic.
- My situation was not exceptional. Anyone with an iota of logic could fathom in their wildest imagination that,

1.3.4 Keep in confidence information derived from your patient, or from a colleague regarding your patient, and divulge it only with the patient's permission. Exceptions may arise where the health of others is at risk or you are required by order of a court to breach patient confidentiality.

Click to expand...

Would have the potential to be misused, if not manipulated.
You've put your faithful views forward, I've put my logic based on experience forward. So now lets let people make up their own minds about what they tell their Doctors.
The world isn't as rosey as you've been brought up to believe. From what I can gather so far, you've been harbored in an environment which trully believes and has faith in what your telling me.
And sorry about the mispelling of your
Username also, purely accidental.
Simon

My post might have been fancy, but I also consider it to be true... so maybe you should heed your own advice and listen to other opinions too. So you've been screwed over by one doctor - does this mean that every doctor is going to screw over every patient? Maybe your doctor is shit, and "Thoth's Daddy" (as you so respectfully put it) is actually a good doctor. How about going to see a doctor like him?
But I'm not in the mood for a flame war that's obviously got no chance of being resolved, seeing as though I'm sure everything I just said will be quoted, pulled apart, and scrutinised in the hope of proving my opinion wrong.

NiQu3Lord.....by reading the above comments you have made, I TOTALLY agree with Pleonastic and the other people who commented above. As someone who obviously seems articulate and educated, you seem to be a little narrow minded and will not accept other people have their views and opinions that THEY TOO have created from their own backgrounds. I find your responses somewhat pretensious with judging other peoples vocabulary and how they express their opinions, and I personally cannot stand this demeaning behaviour. Maybe in the future, I suggest you take your own experiences, mix them with other peoples opinions as well as your own grounded opinion and THEN create a thesis of your own. In my opinion, this website was designed to discuss issues of todays societys, not a chance to judge and scrutinise others. Think about it.

hehehe...what a hardcore thread!
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You can kick the monkey all you want...but what do you do when he wakes up?

ok, closing time everyone. Theres a happy medium to be reached here, so shut the fuck up PLEASE.
WHY? does THIS HAVE TO BE A BIG DICK COMPETITION?
I dont give a fat toss what your daddy does, but at the same time im not gonna discredit what you are saying because of it. Its OPINION based on a certain level of experience... now I'm assuming that we're all adults here... (we'll MOST of us anyway)
SIMON: I applaud your defensive capability. Dont let anyone cut you down just because your input is on the extreme side. So is mine and while I dont swear it to be the fucking fifth gospel I place it here for cynical perspective.
The rest of you have exactly the same right to free speech as simon but you choose to abuse it by bashing what he has to say to a pulp.
*NOT COOL*, so *VERY... NOT COOL*.
*sigh*
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"The best things in life are free, and the free things in life are best...."

Uhh, Big dick competition?
People have been exchanging info on what seems to be a somewhat important topic... While we could all do with some less flamage, Simon and others have raised some salient points. If you don't like the subject matter, don't bother opening the thread and certainly don't reply! Telling everybody to shut the fuck up is just condescending...
Anyway, I think this will be my last reply on this topic. Here goes:
Simon, I understand exactly what you mean. You don't need to give me point form. However, on issues of confidentiality the AMA is quite explicit. The passage quoted gives doctors leeway to breach privacy under only two conditions.
1. The health of others is at immediate risk,
2. A court of law directs it.
There are no other scenarios where this can take place without the doc risking discipline for malpractice. This is not a loophole situation where its wording can be "manipulated." Given that people are getting increasingly fond of litigation, and professional indemnity insurance for medical practice is skyrocketing in price, doctors are treading more carefully than ever before. To breach your confidence in situations other than those two outlined above, the doctor would stand to lose alot more than the patient would... Like their job. All doctors are answerable to the AMA, otherwise they cannot practice. The situation is similar with professional psychologists, they have similar ethical codes imposed upon them by their professional organisation, the APA.
Believe me I am aware that real-world situations can prevent differing circumstances, I am not naive. However if they do, you have easy recourse. As a patient, you have MUCH more rights regarding your treatment than your doctor does.
In conclusion, the rules very specific. They are almost identical across all international medical NGO's, even before they were codified. If they are not being followed, complain. I can see no excuse for the doctors behaviour in your instance. The system is accountable, and personally, I think you should at least make some attempt to follow this up.
The AMA's website is www.ama.com.au
They will deal with any such claims.
I can't think of anything else...
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The woods are dark and deep, and you have miles to go before you sleep...
[This message has been edited by -Thoth (edited 06 August 2001).]