Legal Problems on the Protection of the Patients' Medical Information

医生为了对病人进行适当的诊断和治疗，必须从病人那里获得适当和准确的信息。因此，医生和医务人员负有医德和包括民法和刑法在内的法律规定的保密义务。然而，目前的法规不足以保护此类信息。它正在迅速流行，基因检测和治疗在许多治疗领域都得到了实践。遗传信息不仅影响患者，也影响患者的亲属。如果医疗信息管理不善继续下去，可能会给社会带来严重的问题。对于医疗信息的类型，应根据信息的重要性(遗传密码信息、严重疾病，如艾滋病毒感染、性传播疾病、药物依赖等)采取不同的方法。虽然对这种认为遗传密码比普通体检信息重要得多的基因例外论可能会有一些反对意见，但这种反对的主旨是认为现行体检信息保护制度的不足，其中的重点是共同的。在这种背景下，将体检信息划分为与特定个人相关的信息和源于“人”的医疗数据，是从隐私权实践的角度对体检信息进行管理的恰当方式之一。虽然应该研究的课题并不少，但最好是朝这个方向推进这一论点。

In order for a doctor to carry out proper diagnosis and medical treatment to a patient, it is necessary to get proper and accurate information from the patient. The doctors and the medical staffs are, therefore, owe the duty of confidentiality by medical ethics and the law including civil law and criminal law. However, present regulations are not enough for protection of such information. It is getting popular in a rapid pace, and genetic examination and therapy are put in practice in many fields of treatments. Genetic information influences not only the patient but also patient's relatives. If improper management of medical information will continue, it may cause serious ploblems to society. There should be some different approach toward the types of medical information according to the importance of information (genetic code information, serious illness such as infection of HIV, sexually transmitted disease, drug dependence, etc.). Although there may be some objection toward such the "genetic exceptionalism", which regards a genetic code far more important than the ordinary medical-examination information, the main idea of such objection argues the insufficiency of present medical examination information protection system, the important point is common among them. In this context, to divide the medical-examination information into the information that connect to a specific individual and to the medical data originated from the "humans" is one of the proper way to manage medical-examination information in the standpoint of the practice of the right of privacy (Gostin). Although there are not few subjects which should be examined, it is desirable to advance the argument in this direction.