Confidentiality in medical publishing
CMAJ 1998;159:443
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, of which CMAJ is a member, states that a patient's identifying information should be published only when it is "essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication."1 The guidelines for Experience articles in "Writing for CMAJ" state that "The writing should be candid without compromising patient confidentiality."2 Would we all agree that these principles should apply to photos as well? How, then, did the photograph and references to individual patients by their first names manage to appear in the article "AIDS in Africa: a personal experience" (CMAJ 1998;158[8]:1051-3), by Dr. Meb Rashid? Did the parent or guardian of the boy appearing in the photograph provide written informed consent to the publication of the photo or the egregious violation of confidentiality in the caption? How was this violation essential for scientific purposes? Do the appropriately stringent confidentiality requirements of the international committee apply only to certain sections of CMAJ or only to certain patients?
Robert Barnes, MD, CM
Clinical and Research Fellow
Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
McGill University
Montreal, Que.
rbarne@po-box.mcgill.ca
Editor's note: Please see the editorial addressing this topic, on page 503.
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References
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. CMAJ 1997;156(2):270-6.
- Writing for CMAJ. CMAJ 1998;159(1):77-8.
