When can and should OH disclose medical information in the public interest, without consent?

This has recently been in the news in the case of the refuse lorry driver who collapsed at the wheel in a crowded Glasgow street, tragically killing six shoppers when his lorry went out of control and mounted the pavement.

Assuming that a doctor knows of a health condition that renders the driver of a vehicle on the public highway unsafe to drive, is he or she permitted to disclose this to an employer or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or even the police without the driver’s consent? Might it be argued that there is in fact a positive duty to do so in order to protect the public? In the OH context there are a number of further scenarios that may also give rise to a similar dilemma.

Diana Kloss’s latest blog discusses these issues: Disclosure in the public interest.