Article 12 of the Saudi Fertility Units Law

This article establishes protection of patient privacy in fertility units, and covers the following:

• The rule: absolute confidentiality of patients' private information.
• The prohibition: the unit must not allow anyone to view this information.
• The exception, which requires two conditions together:
  1. The case is one that necessity requires.
  2. Access is based on the approval of the Supervisory Committee or the judicial authorities.

It is therefore not enough for a staff member at the unit to decide that there is a necessity. Necessity must exist and approval must be given by one of the two bodies named. Under Article 1, the Supervisory Committee is the committee responsible for overseeing fertilization, embryo and infertility treatment matters.

Note that describing the confidentiality as "absolute" shows how strong a protection the Law intends, given the particular sensitivity of this information.

This article follows Article 11, which makes the physician, the assistant and the technician responsible for negligence, shortcoming or error leading to samples being mixed up or switched, and precedes Article 13, which bars research on sperm, ova, zygotes and embryos except with the approval of the sample owners and the Supervisory Committee.

A person who believes their information was disclosed without justification may consult a lawyer who specializes in health regulations.