Should general practitioners be informed of patients' convictions for drug offences?

Neville asks whether society might benefit if general practitioners were routinely informed by the courts when a patient of theirs had been convicted on drug charges. Four professionals respond to his suggestion. R. Gillon, an ethicist, rejects the proposal as potentially damaging to the physician patient relationship while offering little or no benefit to patients or society. J. Havard, Secretary of the British Medical Association, acknowledges that it might be advantageous to notify physicians of their patients' drug problems, but concludes that a permanent note of such a problem in a patient's medical record could be harmful, many offenders do not require treatment, and some offenders have no regular physician to notify. P. Tomson, a general practitioner, sees Neville's suggestion as harmful to doctor patient rapport. J.E. Over, a chief constable, recommends that Neville's proposal be considered seriously in light of Britain's growing drug problem.