1. According to article 11 (1) of the Patient Rights Act of 2005 “a prerequisite for the provision of health care is the patient’s consent given after complete medical information, which is provided by the health care services provider to the patient, in due time, and in a comprehensible manner, so that the latter may understand the information provided and can make a free and independent choice”.
   Consent is only valid when it is retrieved after the necessary information was given to the patient. Without a valid consent, no medical treatment may be started.
   When the patient is in a position where he/she is not able to express his/her will, due to his/her mental or physical state, and immediate medical care is urgently necessary, the consent of the patient may be presumed, unless it is obvious, from previously expressed wishes that he/she would have refused.
2. The information preceding the consent has to be given in writing, as the consent itself. Only in emergency situations exceptionally, oral information is acceptable, but it should be put in writing as soon as possible. The information provided to the patient preceding the consent, should be given in a comprehensible manner so that the patient may understand the information. The patient shall have the right to request and receive a reasonable analytical estimate of charges, if any, at any stage of the health care.
3. The consent of the patient may be given in writing or orally, provided that such consent is put in writing as soon as possible (article 11 (2)).
   Oral consent is only acceptable in emergency situations, but also in these circumstances, it should be put in writing as soon as possible.
4. Where the patient is in no position, due to his/her mental or physical state, to express his/her will and the provision of medical care is urgently needed, the consent of the patient may be presumed, unless it is obvious, from previously expressed wishes that he would have refused.
5. Although there is no explicit right to refusal, the physician is obliged to inform the patient preceding the (non-)consent on the risks of non-treatment, according to article 12 (d). A right of refusal can, thus, be deduced from this article. It can also be deduced from article 11 (1) that states that “a prerequisite for the provision of health care is the patient’s consent”.
6. Article 13 (1) clearly refers to previously expressed wishes, when stipulating that when a patient is mentally or physically not capable of giving consent and medical care is urgent, the physician may presume the consent of the patient unless it is obvious from previously expressed wishes that the patient would have refused consent for a certain treatment.In any case where proper consent is impossible to be obtained, any previously expressed wishes of the patient concerning health care shall be taken into consideration.
7. Where, according to the law, a minor does not have the capacity to consent to his/her receiving health care, health care may only be provided with the authorization of his/her parents or another person, who according to the law provide such authorization. Provided that the opinion of the minor shall be taken into consideration as an increasingly determining factor in proportion of his/her age and degree of maturity.

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