Citation

Smith TA. J. Am. Med. Assoc. JAMA 1985; 253(1): 25.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1985, American Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11643691

Abstract

A physician relates an incident from his early days of practice, when he witnessed a case of abuse of a foster child in his office. At that time health personnel were not required by law to report abused children. Although his recently-completed training had emphasized the importance of maintaining patient confidentiality, Thayer spoke to authorities about what he had seen, and the child eventually was placed in another home. He concludes that at times a physician's instinct to protect a patient may be a better guide to action than precepts learned in training.

Language: en