TO DISCLOSE OR NOT TO DISCLOSE: DETERMINING THE SCOPE AND EXERCISE OF A PHYSICIAN'S DUTY TO WARN THIRD PARTIES OF GENETICALLY TRANSMISSIBLE CONDITIONS
In: University of Cincinnati Law Review, Jg. 76 (2008-04-01), S. 1019
Online
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I. Introduction Under medical malpractice law, physicians traditionally do not owe a duty to persons with whom they have not entered into a treatment relationship. 2 The Supreme Court of California in Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 3 however, created an exception to this principle by holding that a therapist who, under the standards of the medical profession, has or should have determined that the patient posed a serious threat of violence to a foreseeable third party has a duty of reasonable care to protect that third party from being harmed by the patient. 4 More than thirty years later, courts have expanded this duty to warn third parties beyond the field of psychiatry. For example, physicians, as well as therapists, now have a duty to warn when they know or should know that a patient's dangerous behaviors pose an unreasonable risk to a specific third party. 5 Additionally, courts have found that physicians have a duty to warn third parties of the danger posed by a contagious disease to which they likely have been exposed. 6 Finally, given recent scientific developments in the field of genetics, courts have also found that physicians have a duty to warn both the patient and the patient's immediate blood relatives that they may be at risk from a genetically transmissible condition, such as the development of a specific form of cancer. 7 This last area of medical malpractice jurisprudence is the primary focus of this Comment. ...
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TO DISCLOSE OR NOT TO DISCLOSE: DETERMINING THE SCOPE AND EXERCISE OF A PHYSICIAN'S DUTY TO WARN THIRD PARTIES OF GENETICALLY TRANSMISSIBLE CONDITIONS
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Kovalesky, Mary L. |
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Zeitschrift: | University of Cincinnati Law Review, Jg. 76 (2008-04-01), S. 1019 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2008 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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