title: The so-called 'therapeutic privilege' or 'contra-indication': its nature and role in non-disclosure cases.
abstract: This article critically examines the nature, scope and application of the so-called 'therapeutic privilege' or 'contra-indication' as a defence to a failure to procure an informed consent to medical interventions. This is done within the context of the doctor's legal-ethical duty to inform his patient of the diagnosis and treatment on the hand and his sometimes conflicting medico-ethical duty to heal on the other, with special reference to the application of the defence in cases of solicited information and lie-telling.
authors.affiliation: University of Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: van Oosten
mesh_terms: D030881:Disclosure; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014342:Truth Disclosure