As part of the Medical Jurisprudence course, the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University held a seminar on the sharia, legal, and social responsibility of medical secrets in light of patients’ rights to privacy, as well as the sharia and legal treatments of medical errors.
The seminar was held in the presence of Dr. Fadel Naim, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Muhammad Dabour-Asaad, Head of the pre-clinical department at the faculty, as well as a group of interested and concerned people and a number of faculty members and students at the faculty.
In his speech before the opening session, Dr. Naim stressed the importance and keenness of the faculty to hold and implement academic and scientific seminars that contribute to supporting the knowledge and professional outcomes of students. He thanked all the efforts exerted to carry out such activities, which benefit the medical students in aspects of their practical lives.
First session
The seminar was held over two scientific sessions; the first was held under the title, “The Doctor’s Sharia, Legal, and Social Responsibility of the Medical Secret in Light of the Patient’s Privacy.” Four scientific papers were discussed. The first paper discussed “the concept of medical secrecy and its determinants.” Dr. Fadel Naim demonstrated the medical secret from a medical point of view, where he clarified the types that are considered medical secrets. He then explained the secrets that may be revealed in unusual circumstances, such as revealing the names of those infected with the Corona virus.
In the second paper, Counselor Moeen Al-Wahidi, Deputy Attorney General, discussed “medical secrecy in Palestinian legislation,” the legal aspect of medical secrets, and explained the position of the Palestinian legislator on disclosing patient secrets, whether intentionally or by mistake.
Prof. Dr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Hams, a professor of mental health in the Faculty of Education at the Islamic University, gave the third paper, “The Medical Secret and Its Social and Psychological Effects.” In it, he showed how telling patients’ secrets hurts their mental health, which in turn hurts their physical health.
Dr. Sadiq Qandil, a Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at the Faculty, presented a working paper on “Medical Secrets in Islamic Sharia,” in which the Sharia provisions for revealing medical secrets and the responsibility that entails them were discussed.
Second session
Regarding the second session, it was held under the title “Sharia and legal treatments of medical error.” Dr. Al-Dabour-Assad talked about medical error from a scientific point of view. He also explained how medical errors are different from some other kinds of mistakes.
Prof. Dr. Abdul Qadir Jarada, Head of the Arab Centre for Forensic Sciences, spoke about “The Palestinian Legislator’s Position on Medical Error,” where he tackled the legal aspect of medical errors and the penalties incurred therefrom. Then, Dr. Sadiq Qandil, the course instructor, discussed the sharia side of medical errors and their provisions from various perspectives, including the sayings in jurists’ doctrines about medical errors and the doctor’s obligations of responsibility.
