Does the adolescent have the right to privacy from the doctor? – breaking latest news

Adolescents, even if not yet of age, would like to have a space for dialogue with their doctor without the presence of their parents but, above all, they would like to be sure that he doesn’t go and tell mum and dad the contents of a confidential interview. The one to privacy among the rights most invoked by students (15-17 years old) involved in a project on the rights and duties of adolescents that the
Adolescent Laboratory Association
is carrying on in high school. That of the boys is a completely understandable request — second Fulvio Scaparropsychologist and psychotherapist and referent of the psychological area of ​​Adolescence Laboratory – considering that the desire for self-determination and independence is a fundamental step in the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

What does the law say

But beyond the wishes of boys and girls, What is the situation from a regulatory point of view? Do professional secrecy and informed consent also apply to a minor? Joseph Deleomedical examiner and adviser to the Order of Doctors of Milan, explains: There are specific situations defined by ad hoc provisions in which respect for privacy is also guaranteed to the minor. These include voluntary termination of pregnancy
(in which the adolescent has the right to self-determination without the parents necessarily knowing about it), the prescription of the pill of the day later, or the diagnosis of seropositivity. But there may be exceptions if the doctor recognizes the extremes of a serious risk to the adolescent’s health: in that case he is required to inform whoever has the legal protection of the minor, but also to inform the adolescent himself of what to do.

He insists on this aspect Achille Ginnetti, Osimo’s family doctor: It is not uncommon, for example, for a parent to ask the doctor to prescribe blood tests for his or her teenage son or daughter, to check if he or she is using drugs, inviting him, however, not to explain the reason to the person concerned. A request to which a doctor should never agree, but should always inform his young patient.

Informed consent

And it is precisely on the so-called informed consent of the minor that another complex chapter opens which still has contradictory aspects. In the recent past, reference was essentially made to the Oviedo Convention (approved by the Council of Europe in 1997) which states that the opinion of a minor taken into consideration as an increasingly determining factor, depending on his age and degree of maturity. Today – underlines Giuseppe Deleo – some progress has been made, so much so that there is a specific Italian law, 219 of 2017, which clarifies that even minors must receive information on choices relating to their health in a way that is appropriate to their abilities, to be put in a position to express one’s will.

If there is no agreement between parents and children

The fact remains that, in case of discordant will between minor and parents, except in the cases indicated above, the will of the parent prevails. And if there is no agreement between the parents, the judge will settle the matter (if necessary by temporarily removing their parental authority) who, having heard the doctor’s opinion, will decide on the basis of what is considered to be the primary interest of the minor. AND the teenager himself can apply to the juvenile court if it is in conflict with the choices of the parents. Situation that has occurred more than once in the recent past with parents opposed to the anti-Covid vaccination for children and adolescents who wanted it instead.

Observe the rules and always act with common sense

If the law delimits the boundaries within which one must move, then there should be common sense to regulate things, bearing in mind that the doctor is not obliged to inform the parents always and in any case. In other words, as Achille Ginnetti explains: If the doctor believes that his silence is not prejudicial to the health of the adolescent, he has the faculty and, I would add, the deontological duty to guarantee absolute confidentiality on what he has learned and on what may have been indicated or prescribed. This is because it is of the utmost importance that a relationship of trust be built between doctor and patient, of any age.

This applies to doctors but also to psychologists. The optimal goal to which one must strive, but always through mutual consent, which parents can be informed and involved, but children must be assureduntil a risk situation is identified, confidentiality about the things they say. Personally, before taking charge of a teenager, I always tell the parents this, says Fulvio Scaparro.