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Privacy And Confidentiality

Privacy, Confidentiality, And Your Right To Consent To Care

What do these words mean?

  • Privacy:  Your right to control who receives medical information about you.

  • Confidentiality:  The obligation of medical personnel to respect your right to privacy by not disclosing your medical information to anyone else without your consent.

  • Consent to care:  Your right to make medical decisions for yourself, as long as you are emotionally and intellectually mature enough to become fully informed about the risks and benefits of medical treatment.

  • Medical decisions:  Those choices you may make about what kind of treatment you wish to have, and also may wish not to have.

Once you turn 18 years old, you are generally entitled by law to make all medical decisions for yourself.

Before you turn 18, you are a "minor" and your right to make medical decisions for yourself is somewhat limited. However, you still have the power to make many decisions without the consent of your parents or guardian. In these instances, health care professionals are required by law to respect your privacy about your medical care, and must treat all your information in a confidential manner.

New York law allows all minors, who can understand the risks and benefits of medical care, to consent to certain kinds of medical care. These include emergency health care, certain mental health services, certain alcohol and drug abuse services, birth control, abortion, prenatal care, care during labor and delivery, and care for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. This means that you can make an appointment to receive these kinds of medical services without necessarily asking for your parents' permission. Your parent or guardian does not need to authorize that you receive these medical services, and they do not have to be informed about the care you receive.

Some minors have the ability, under the law, to consent to all the medical care they wish to receive. For example, pregnant and parenting teens, married minors, and sometimes "mature minors" (those minors who meet a standard set by the courts), do not need any permission from a parent or guardian to receive any kind of medical care.

Your doctor or other health care provider should understand that you may want to have a personal, confidential conversation with him or her about your health. Don't be afraid to ask for time to speak with your doctor privately.

We can't explain all there is to know about teens and medical confidentiality on this web page, so we encourage you to learn more about your right to confidential care on your own. A great resource for teens and young adults about their rights to privacy and confidentiality is the New York Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Rights Project. You can get a copy of their pamphlet, Teenagers, Health Care & The Law, by calling (212) 344-3005 or asking by e-mail at nyclurrp@aol.com.

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