Eastern Health backs down on MD confidentiality agreement

The largest health authority in Newfoundland and Labrador is no longer insisting that its physicians sign a confidentiality agreement that struck some doctors as a gag order.

Some physicians at Eastern Health refused to sign a new privacy and confidentiality agreement last spring that would have forbidden doctors from discussing what was called the "business" of the authority, even after they stopped working there.

Doctors complained to the authority that they have a responsibility to speak out for their patients.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association agreed, and advised all of its members not to sign the agreement. The association's lawyers said there were no clear limits on the document, and that its terms could be applied too broadly.

Eastern Health managers said last spring that the agreement did not aim to muzzle doctors.

The issue, though, came to light as the Cameron inquiry into breast cancer testing errors was underway, and after an inquiry-sponsored symposium emphasized the importance of transparency in the medical system.

This fall, the health authority revised the wording of its confidentiality agreement.

It now acknowledges that doctors must be allowed to advocate for the safety of their patients.

The association is advising its members to sign the new agreement.