A Comparative Study of the Confidentiality of Deceased Persons’ Medical Information

Confidentiality of medical information is a principle that has been accepted in various legal systems, but all discussions so far have been conducted around the preservation of medical information of living patients. Hence, there is some doubt about the need to preserve or not preserve the medical information of the deceased. The fact that the law is not transparent has also contributed to this issue. The nature of death makes it difficult to extend the provisions of the principle of confidentiality of medical information of the alive patients to the deceased since, apparently, there is no need for the deceased to preserve its medical information. There is a view that the deceased has become dust, and dust does not and is not hurt. In other words, he/she has no awareness or feeling; thus, why should we support his medical information? But the issue is not so simple, and the public interest of the living individuals could be the most vital factor in justifying the preservation of deceased medical information. However, this principle does not seem to be absolute and it has, in some cases, exceptions as far as bias against the principle of confidentiality sometimes jeopardizes the public health and safety of society. In this article, the applicability of confidentiality with regard to the deceased is explained and we analyze the basis and exceptions and mention how this principle is reflected in the legal systems of the UK, the United States and Iran.