Chapter 245. Relating to the testimony of physicians in the courts of the District of Columbia
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CHAP. 245.— An Act Relating to the testimony of physicians in the courts of the District of Columbia.May 25, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That in the courts of the District District of Columbia. Physicians prohibited disclosing confidential information. of Columbia no physician or surgeon shall be permitted, without the consent of the person afflicted, or of his legal representative, to disclose any information, confidential in its nature, which he shall have acquired in attending a patient in a professional capacity and which was necessary to enable him to act in that capacity, whether such information shall have been obtained from the patient or from his family or from the person or persons in charge of him: *Provided,* That this Act *Proviso.* Exception in criminal cases. shall not apply to evidence in criminal cases where the accused is charged with causing the death of, or inflicting injuries upon, a human being, and the disclosure shall be required in the interests of public justice.
Received by the President, May 13, 1896. [Note by the Department of State.—The foregoing act having been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.]