Volume 1

The principles and practice of medical jurisprudence / by the late Alfred Swaine Taylor.

  • Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 1806-1880.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The principles and practice of medical jurisprudence / by the late Alfred Swaine Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    59/976 (page 39)
    MEDICAL CERTIFICATES. to disclose any information which he acquired in attending a patient in a professional capacity, and which was necessary to enable him to act in that capacity. It is, however, provided that in the examina- tion of medical practitioners or professional or registered nurses a& witnesses these may, upon a trial or examination, disclose any infor- mation as to the mental or physical condition of a patient who is deceased, which was acquired m attending such patient professionally, except confidential communications and such facts as tend to disgrace the memory of the patient {B. M. J., I, 1904, p. 759). Dr. Dixon Mann ( For. Med., p. 9) says : A good citizen obeys the law, although he may have scruples in doing so ; therefore a witness should not set his private judgment against authority without very searching self-inquiry ; an obstinate conviction must not be mistaken for a sense of duty. In the majority of cases it will probably be compatible with his sense of duty if the witness enters a protest against answering the question and then bows to the requirements of the law. The editor thinks that the best plan to pursue is as follows:— Discuss the matter freely and openly with the person implicated, and with his counsel if necessary or permitted, point out to them the diffi- culty you fear may arise, and according to the decision you three arrive at make up your own mind as to whether you shall (I) retire altogether from the case, (2) answer the question, or (3) refuse to do so and run the chance of being committed for contempt. To take this latter course you must be clear in your own mind that you are acting according to the highest dictates of honour and are prepared to abide by the consequences, which are certain to be very inconvenient and may be serious. The Notification of Infectious Diseases Act is the first actual public assertion that medical secrecy is not recognised by law. By it the medical man is compelled to disclose not only the fact of illness, but its exact nature. The editor feels that he cannot leave this subject without a word upon the giving of certificates of illness. Very much here depends upon whether the practitioner is acting as a medical officer or as a medical man only. In the former case it is commonly a part of his agreement to give such certificates when acting for his employers, and those for whom the certificates are written also know that they will be written and read, and therefore a medical man is in these cases bound to fill a certificate accurately and precisely, stating the exact nature of the disease. This statement answers the following inquiry and hundreds of similar ones appearing in the medical press from time to time. An eiigiuo driver comes to consult me about an ordinary catarrhal ophthalmia, hut in addition to this I find unequal Argyll-Eobertson pupils, absence of knee- jerks, and other slight symptoms of tabes, and possibly early G.P.I., tremulous tongue, nervousness, and some excitability, etc. Apart from this he is quite well and able to do his work. Am I justified in reporting him to the railway company to prevent his working, as he himself does not see any reason why ho should not do BO ? Again, many workmen's clubs will not give sick pay when incapacity arises from venereal disease. In such cases the medical officer must