| HOME | EUROPEAN ETHICAL-LEGAL PAPERS | CENTRE FOR BIOMEDICAL ETHICS AND LAW | EUROGENTEST |
|---|
| GENERAL OVERVIEW | BIOMEDICINE CONVENTION | EU MEMBER STATES | TYPES OF PATIENT RIGHTS LEGISLATION |
| 1. The right of the patient to information about his or her health is regulated as a basic requirement in the Law on the Rights of Patients and Civil Code. 2. Both laws also provide the right not to know. This right not to know is not an absolute one as in the interest of the patient himself or in the interest of others the right not to know has not to be respected. 3. The Civil Code clearly contains the therapeutic exception. A provider of personal healthcare services has the right to withhold the information from the patient only in those instances where such notification would have a detrimental effect upon the patient (id est, would cause harm to the health of the patient or even endanger his life). In such instances, all such information has to be submitted to the patient’s representative and is considered as information supplied to the patient. The said information has to be communicated to the patient as soon as the risk of causing the said harm to the patient by the notification of such information is eliminated. |