Coopersmith H G, Korner-Bitensky N A, Mayo N E
Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, Laval, PQ.
CMAJ. 1989 Feb 15;140(4):375-8.
Current legislation indicates that physicians in Canada have a legal responsibility to know which medical conditions may impede driving ability, to detect these conditions in their patients and to discuss with their patients the implications of these conditions. The requirements to report unfit drivers vary among the provinces, and the interpretations of the law vary among the courts; therefore, physicians' risks of liability are unclear. Physicians may be sued by their patients if they fail to counsel the patients on the dangers of driving associated with certain medications or medical conditions. Physicians may also face legal action by victims of motor vehicle accidents caused by their patients if the court decides that the physicians could have foreseen the danger of their patients' continuing to drive. Physicians' legal responsibilities to report patients with certain medical conditions override their ethical responsibilities to keep patients' medical histories confidential.
现行法律规定，加拿大的医生有法律责任了解哪些医疗状况可能会妨碍驾驶能力，在患者中检测出这些状况，并与患者讨论这些状况的影响。各省对于报告不适合驾车者的要求有所不同，而且法院对法律的解释也存在差异；因此，医生面临的责任风险并不明确。如果医生未能就某些药物或医疗状况相关的驾驶危险向患者提供咨询，可能会被患者起诉。如果法院判定医生本可预见其患者继续驾车的危险，那么医生还可能面临其患者引发的机动车事故受害者提起的法律诉讼。医生报告患有某些医疗状况的患者的法律责任优先于其对患者病历保密的道德责任。
