Scientific article
English

When information can save lives: the duty to warn relatives about sudden cardiac death and environmental risks

Published inThe Hastings Center report, vol. 40, no. 3, p. 39-45
Publication date2010
Abstract

In certain cases of sudden death, forensic experts may discover during an investigation or autopsy that family members of the deceased are also at risk of harm-from genetic disease, for instance. But do they have a duty to warn them? Looking at similar duties of physicians and researchers to warn third parties of risk suggests they do.

Keywords
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac/etiology
  • Duty to Warn/ethics/legislation & jurisprudence
  • Environmental Exposure/adverse effects/prevention & control
  • Family
  • Forensic Pathology/ethics/legislation & jurisprudence/standards
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Heart Arrest/genetics
  • Humans
  • Risk Factors
Citation (ISO format)
ELGER, Bernice Simone, MICHAUD, Katarzyna, MANGIN, Patrice. When information can save lives: the duty to warn relatives about sudden cardiac death and environmental risks. In: The Hastings Center report, 2010, vol. 40, n° 3, p. 39–45. doi: 10.1353/hcr.0.0254
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0093-0334
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