[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Medical ethics](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/) › Confidentiality and truth-telling

# Confidentiality and truth-telling

Confidentiality and its limits, truthfulness, breaking bad news and disclosing medical error.

11 pages

## Procedure

- [**Breaking bad news: the SPIKES protocol** SPIKES puts giving bad news into six steps: prepare, explore, ask, inform, respond to emotion…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/breaking-bad-news-the-spikes-protocol/)
- [**Medical error: disclosure and apology** When an error affects the patient, the doctor tells them honestly, explains what happened…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/medical-error-disclosure-and-apology/)

## Topic

- [**Fidelity and dual loyalty** Dual loyalty arises when a doctor serves the patient and, at the same time, a third party such…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/fidelity-and-dual-loyalty/)
- [**Genetic information: testing, confidentiality and relatives** A genetic result also speaks about relatives: it calls for consent and counselling, and for…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/genetic-information-testing-confidentiality-and-relatives/)
- [**Honesty with third parties: insurers, certificates and billing** Doctors do not lie on the patient's behalf: a certificate, a report to an insurer or a bill must…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/honesty-with-third-parties-insurers-certificates-and-billing/)
- [**The limits of confidentiality: duty to warn and legal disclosure** Secrecy gives way when there is a serious risk to an identifiable person or when a law requires…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/the-limits-of-confidentiality-duty-to-warn-and-legal-disclosure/)
- [**Therapeutic privilege and the right not to know** Rarely, a doctor may withhold information if telling it would cause serious harm; and a patient…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/therapeutic-privilege-and-the-right-not-to-know/)
- [**When the doctor is also the investigator** A doctor doing research with their own patients serves two ends, the patient's good and…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/when-the-doctor-is-also-the-investigator/)

## Principle

- [**Privacy and habeas data in health** Privacy protects the patient's body, information and decisions; in Colombia it is guaranteed by…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/privacy-and-habeas-data-in-health/)
- [**Professional secrecy and confidentiality** The doctor keeps private everything learned about the patient through work, except the…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/professional-secrecy-and-confidentiality/)
- [**Truthfulness: telling the patient the truth** Patients have a right to know the truth about their health, told with tact and at the pace they…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/truthfulness-telling-the-patient-the-truth/)

## A to Z

- [A](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/a/)
- [B](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/b/)
- [C](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/c/)
- [D](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/d/)
- [E](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/e/)
- [F](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/f/)
- [G](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/g/)
- [H](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/h/)
- [I](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/i/)
- [J](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/j/)
- [K](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/k/)
- [L](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/l/)
- [M](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/m/)
- [N](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/n/)
- [O](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/o/)
- [P](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/p/)
- [Q](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/q/)
- [R](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/r/)
- [S](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/s/)
- [T](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/t/)
- [U](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/u/)
- [V](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/v/)
- [W](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/w/)

[← Medical ethics and health law](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/)

Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/areas/communication/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/areas/communication/