[Wikimedia-l] Radiological images

[Risker]

On 17 September 2013 23:56, James Heilman <jmh649 at gmail.com> wrote:

> To address the issue of needing "patient consent" for release of X-rays in
> publications the General Medical Council in the UK says ethically it is NOT
> required.
>
>
>    1. 10. Consent to make the recordings listed below will be implicit in
>    the consent given to the investigation or treatment, and does not need
> to
>    be obtained separately.
>
>
>    - Images of internal organs or structures
>    - Images of pathology slides
>    - Laparoscopic and endoscopic images
>    - Recordings of organ functions
>    - Ultrasound images
>    - X-rays
>
>
>    1. 12. You may disclose or use any of the recordings listed in paragraph
>    10 for secondary purposes without seeking consent provided that, before
>    use, the recordings are anonymised for example, by the removal or
> coding of
>    any identifying marks such as writing in the margins of an X-ray
> (see paragraph
>    17 <http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/7842.asp>). Further
>    advice on anonymising information is available from the Information
>    Commissioner’s
> Office.7<http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/7840.asp#7>
>
> Per http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/7840.asp
>
> --
> James Heilman
> MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
>
>
That works for the UK, probably.  However, it doesn't work in other
places.  There's good reason to believe that legislation  about patient
consent (and its interpretation by the courths) is every bit as varied
between jurisdictions as is legislation about copyright.  Case law is still
developing significantly in this area; it's only in the past 20-30 years
that patients have been acknowledged to have some rights about the use of
their personal health information, even in the "Western" world where
personal autonomy is a more entrenched philosophy.

And I'd not necessarily bet on individual institutions taking a different
position than the Medical Council, either.

Risker/Anne