The so-called 'therapeutic privilege' or 'contra-indication': its nature and role in non-disclosure cases

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.