The Right to Demand to Withhold Information as an Expression of Patient’s Autonomy

Abstract

The right to demand to withhold information is an expression of respect towards patient’s will and his autonomy as well as denial of the paternalistic conception of a relation between an ill individual and his doctor. It is the patient who, as a disposer of the right to information, decides if and to what extent he wants to receive such information. Despite the fact that the right to information has been widely described in the medical law literature, the right to demand to withhold information, which is directly connected to it and ensuing from it, has not been thoroughly examined yet. Because of that, it seems right and reasonable to analyse the issue related to the boundaries of patient’s autonomy. It should be emphasised that none of the current Laws pertaining to the obligation to inform have stated that the patient has the right to not be informed of his health condition. The institution of demanding to withhold information raises many concerns while in medical practice it very oft en occurs. The following paper examines the scope of the patient’s right to demand to withhold information as well as the circumstances of excluding and restricting that right. Additionally, it widely describes the consequences caused by the right to resign from information. In particular, a part of the paper is devoted to the legal character of an expressed consent to treatment in accordance with the opinions expressed in the legal doctrine.