Prawna charakterystyka zawodowej tajemnicy aptekarskiej

Abstract

Legal characteristics of professional pharmaceutical confidentiality

            Summary

            The legal regulation of pharmaceutical confidentiality was inspired by the treatment of medical confidentiality. De lege lata, the legal basis for the obligation to maintain this type of discretion is the provision of Art. 21 point 2 of the Act of 19 April 1991 on pharmaceutical chambers, however, in all matters not regulated in that legal act, the provisions of the Act of 6 November  2008 on Patient Rights and the Patient Rights Ombudsman apply. At the same time, due to the fragmented statutory regulation, nonlegal regulators, including the rules of deontological nature expressed in the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists may also have practical significance.

            Maintaining pharmaceutical discretion is an important element of pharmacy activities. It should be assumed that this kind of privacy is universal, as it concerns every sphere of pharmacy's activity.

            The obligation of confidentiality with regard to the personal and medical data of patients is a fundamental duty not only of the entrepreneur running the pharmacy and people acting on the premises of an enterprise (pharmacists, pharmaceutical technicians, people practicing in the pharmacy), but also of all person who, in connection with the performance of activities at the pharmacy, has access to information related to the patient. The scope of confidential information should be understood broadly. It includes all the basic data about the patient, his health condition, used medicinal products, and the so-called occasional information obtained in the course of providing pharmaceutical services. From a temporal point of view, the obligation of maintaining The obligation of discretion should be considered as unlimited in time. The catalog of cases when “the obliged entities” should disclose the confidential information is also interesting. In this respect, due to the lack of detailed legal regulations regarding pharmaceutical confidentiality, it is necessary to refer to the regulations concerning medical confidentiality.