I mean I can tell my lawyer if I committed a crime and it’s attorney client privilege. I can tell my wife or husband and we are protected not to squeal on each other. Same thing about telling a priest it is privileged information. How come a nurse or doctor is required to report it. I mean non of the above are life and death but a confession from a patient should be privileged in my opinion why is it not? Like if a person says they use meth or whatever, we really don’t report it. But if he get’s in a wreck and only causes himself or herself injury why are we to report it to the police does not HIPPA cover this?

  • DomeGuy@lemmy.world
    4·
    9 hours ago

    Because nurses and doctors aren’t lawyers, and have different concerns that justify and limit anti-testimonial privilege.

    To illustrate, consider who should do what if a person approaches them while covered in someone else’s blood and viscera.

    • the spouse and should be free to offer comfort and advice in what was definitely a traumatic situation.
    • the priest should be able to take confession without regard to temporal concern.
    • the lawyer will need to start preparing a criminal defense
    • the doctor and nurse should be able to heal their wounds, but also really should wonder if there’s someone else out there in need

    I absolutely won’t defend the current system where patients need to be lawyers to know when they should lie to their doctors. Or where the CDC can’t say *warning, DomeGuy has COVID!" but the DA can demand my doctor tattle on my prescriptions.