title: Patient's autonomy of will in Polish law.
abstract: A principle of Polish legislation is that the evidence of legality for any medical intervention is the patient's consent. The issue is directly referred to by both the Patient's Rights Act from 2008 and the Medical Profession Act from 1996. The patient's consent may be given after obtaining reliable, accessible and thorough information about all stages of medical intervention: diagnosis, therapy prospects or rehabilitation. The extent of information about the potential risk of medical treatment should include the typically foreseeable results, which usually brings the matter down to typical risk. However, there are interventions, which bear greater risk, and even though it can't be considered typical, it should also be mentioned, despite the fact that the postulate of tactfulness should be respected here. The burden of proof that appropriate information has been given lies upon the doctor. Thus default consent, especially one given on being admitted to hospital, to all medical actions isn't valid in legal terms. The role of forms including standard information for giving consent is limited. Polish law doesn't regulate this issue, and other forms of indirect communication are used as auxiliary and cannot replace direct contact between a patient and a doctor. According to the Patient's Rights Act, in case of deliberate breach of those rights, the court can grant the aggrieved party with an appropriate sum as financial compensation for the harm sustained or an appropriate sum of money for the charity chosen by the aggrieved party. It is a legal basis for claiming compensation for non-material harm in case of a breach of the patient's right to give consent. It is possible both in case of liability in tort, as well as contractual claims.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University: Stara Droga 27, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Swiderska
mesh_terms: D035881:Compensation and Redress / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028701:Patient Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011044:Poland