As a rule, Brazilian Medical Ethics Code establishes that physicians are forbidden to “reveal knowing facts due to their professional activity, except for reasonable justification, legal duty or written consentment from the patient”, moreover, this rule is also applied after the patient’s death.
In 2014, due to legal demands on this subject, CFM, which is a Brazilian independent agency on medical licensing and professional regulation, published the Recommendation nº 03/2014 that lays out orientations to physicians and health institutions regarding disclosure of medical information, when claimed by the surviving partner, their heir or close family.
The access to health information of a deceased patient can happen because of:
- Legal reason;
- Legal duty;
- Patient’s previous and written authorisation
The conditions to sharing the medical information are:
- Documental evidence of family connection, in which close family have priority access;
- The patients need to be previously informed about the possibility of denying the disclosure of their medical information.
Furthermore, LGPD, which is the Brazilian General Personal Data Protection Law, regulates the processing of personal data of living people, in a way that the regulation has no manifestation regarding deceased people.
