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| GENERAL OVERVIEW | BIOMEDICINE CONVENTION | EU MEMBER STATES | TYPES OF PATIENT RIGHTS LEGISLATION |
| 1. The right to informed consent is formulated in a negative way in both the Law on Patient Rights and the Civil Code. The Law on Patient Rights provides that a patient may not be treated or be provided any other health or nursing care against his will, while the Civil Code also stipulates that the patient may not be treated or be provided any other healthcare and/or nursing against his will, unless otherwise established by legislation. 2. A physician, in providing information regarding the treatment, must explain to the patient the course of the treatment, possible results of the treatment, possible alternative methods of treatment and other circumstances, which may have an effect upon the patient’s decision to accept or refuse the proposed treatment and also the possible consequences of refusal of the proposed treatment. He must inform the patient, in a form comprehensible to the latter and with an explanation of the special medical terms involved, of the condition of his health, disease diagnosis, possible treatment methods, prognosis of the treatment and other circumstances which may have an effect upon the patient’s decision to consent or refuse the proposed treatment, as well as of the effects, in case the patient would refuse the proposed treatment. 3. Lithuanian law does not require a written form as a general requirement for a patient’s consent. 4. When the patient is unconscious or when his will cannot be known for some other reason and a serious threat is being posed to his life or health, (first or urgent) medical assistance must be rendered without his consent. Also the vital medical assistance may be given without the consent of the legal representative, when in an urgent situation the consent of the legal representative of the patient cannot be obtained in time or that the legal representative refuses to give his consent, while according to the treating physician or nursing staff member, the rendering of medical assistance is in accordance with the interests of the patient. 5. Patients have the right to withdraw their consent in a written form at any time. Also the right to refuse is explicitly recognized. 6. With respect to the legal position of minor patients there is a clear difference between the regulations in the Law on the Rights of Patients and the Civil Code. First of all the former law stipulates that a minor is a patient younger than 18 years whereas the Civil Code explicitly states that a minor who has reached the age of 16 may consent himself to treatment. As the Civil Code is more recent than the Law on the Rights of Patients it should take priority. If a patient has not reached the age of 16, the health care provider must fulfill his obligations towards the parents of the minor or towards the guardian. This will also be the case if a minor, although having reached the age of 16 years, is considered not to be capable of reasonably appraising his interests. However, if such a patient objects to the provision of health care services to him (to which his parents have already given their consent) health care services may only be provided if this is necessary in order to avoid serious harm to the patient. Patients who are younger than 16 years may not be treated or be provided any other healthcare and/or nursing against the will of one of the parents or their statutory representative, unless the law provides otherwise. Also, if their age and the level of development permit a correct appraisal of the condition of their health and proposed course of treatment, patients younger than 16 years may not be treated against their will unless the law provides otherwise. 7. When an adult patient may not be considered as being reasonably capable of appraising his interests, and neither a curator nor a guardian has been appointed in respect of such person, all obligations of the provider of personal healthcare services to the patient have to be discharged to the person who is authorised in writing by the patient to act on behalf of the patient. In the absence of the authorised person or on failing by the authorised person to take the necessary actions, the obligations have to be discharged to the patient’s spouse or partner. In the absence of the patient’s spouse or partner or when he/she refuses that, the obligations have to be discharged to the patient’s parent or child, unless he/she refuses that. |