Signed and Ratified
 Patient Rights in Denmark

Right to Informed Consent

Right to Information about his or her Health
Rights regarding the Medical File
Right to Privacy
Right to Complain and to Compensation
 
Rights of Users of Genetic Services

 

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  1. In Denmark genetic testing is mainly regulated through the legal framework that applies to the Danish national health care system as a whole. The Health Act 2005 and its provisions on the rights of patients that have been discussed in the previous chapter are mutatis mutandis applicable as rights of users of genetic services.
  2. Following §15 section 1 of  the Health Act 2005 genetic testing always requires informed consent of the user. Informed consent means consent based on appropriate information provided by a health care professional. The health care provider responsible for the genetic test may request written consent but an oral consent is also valid. Although the Act provides in general terms that an implicit or non-verbal consent may according to the circumstances be a valid consent, implied consent does not seem appropriate in the case of genetic testing. Anyhow, the user’s consent has to be entered in the medical record.
  3. Denmark has no rules in its Constitution about non-discrimination, neither general rules nor specifically about genetic discrimination.
    The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated in and made an integral part of Danish National law in 1992. Thus, the non-discrimination rule in article 14 of the European Convention on
    Human Rights is now the most general non-discrimination clause in Danish law.
    In connection with insurance and employment there are special rules regarding the use of genetic information.
    In other areas there are no specific rules and regulation.

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