Giedrius Mozūraitis
Abstract
The private life of a patient is protected by international and national legal acts, however, often the information on a patient’s health must be revealed to state institutions. The article reveals the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania in the field of the immunity of patients’ private life. Basing on legal acts, the practice of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, the doctrine of law, the basis of state institutions’ right to obtain confidential information on patients were analyzed as well as the forms and procedure of the provision of information. The analysis of cases is provided when health care institutions cannot provide confidential information on patients to state institutions. A conclusion is drawn that the state’s duty to ensure the protection of human dignity and security also means that state institutions and officers may not restrict human rights and liberties unfoundedly. In each case, a human being must be considered as a free person, whose dignity should be respected. State institutions and officers have the duty to respect human dignity as especial value. Violation of a person’s rights and liberties may violate a person’s dignity as well.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5200/sm-hs.2013.035
Article in Lithuanian
Keyword(s): information on a patient’s health; privacy of a patient; personal health data; health care institution
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2013.035
Full Text: PDF