[Consent and confidentiality in occupational health practice: balance between legal requirements and ethical values].
BACKGROUND
The recently introduced Italian law on the protection of workers' health states that the occupational health physician (competent physician) is required to act according to the Code of Ethics of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH).


OBJECTIVE
This paper aims at examining the articles of legislative decree 81/2008 dealing with informed consent and confidentiality compared with the corresponding points of the ICOH Ethics Code.


RESULTS
Analysis of the relationship between articles 25 and 39 (informed consent) and 18, 20 and 39 (confidentiality) of the decree shows that there are some points of disagreement between the legal requirements and the Code of Ethics, in particular concerning prescribed health surveillance, consent based on appropriate information (points 8, 10 and 12 of the Code) and some aspects of confidentiality (points 10, 20, 21, 22 and 23 of the Code).


CONCLUSIONS
Although the competent physician is required to act according to the law, the decisional process could lead to a violation of workers' autonomy.
Mora
Erika
E
Cattedra e Scuola di Specializzazione di Medicina del lavoro, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia.
Franco
G
G
D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007558:Italy; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*