Vulnerable people have most to lose from online access

doi:10.1136/bmj.39156.550833.FA

BMJ 2007;334:599 (24 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39156.550833.FA

Letters

Access to records

Vulnerable people have most to lose from online access

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Richards makes a strong plea for full access to personal recordsonline.¹ However, the main danger of such access is not toomuch information for the patient or a threat to medical hegemonybut rather to vulnerable people who may not be able to controlaccess to the record. For example, could a mildly cognitivelyimpaired elderly parent prevent a well meaning, but somewhatoverbearing, daughter or son scanning his or her record andpossibly discovering treatment for a sexually transmitted diseaseor a termination of pregnancy that had been long forgotten?Would an abused wife really be able to stop her husband accessingher record to find out her history or what she may have saidto the doctor about him?

For thousands of years patients have been secure in the knowledgethat their doctors would vigorously defend their secrets regardlessand that they could safely tell them anything. . . . [Full text of this article]

Brian H McKinstry, senior researcher

Community Health Sciences: General Practice Section, Edinburgh EH8 9DR

brian.mckinstry@blueyonder.co.uk