Public interest disclosures in anthrax outbreak

16 February 2010

Doctors in Scotland are being urged to share information with police and the Crown Office in regard to investigations connected with the anthrax outbreak among injecting drug users.

Scottish Chief Medical Officer Dr Harry Burns has written the Health Boards reinforcing the importance of cooperating with the Outbreak Control Team at Health Protection Scotland in monitoring the outbreak.

Dr Burns writes:

"The anthrax outbreak is continuing. The latest position is that there have been 17 confirmed cases of the disease in drug users, and a total of 8 deaths. Both confirmed cases and deaths have occurred in a number of NHS Boards and it is very possible that we will continue to see cases across Scotland for some time."

He urges doctors to consult recent GMC guidance Confidentiality (2009) in regard to disclosing information about serious communicable diseases and cites the relevant passage in the guidance:

"Personal information may therefore be disclosed in the public interest without the patients’ consent, and in exceptional cases where patients have withheld consent, if the benefits to an individual or to society as a whole outweigh both the public and patient’s interest in keeping the information confidential."

Please contact the MDDUS if any doubt over this matter.

Link: Outbreak of anthrax in heroin injecting drug users – confidentiality and data sharing requirements