BIOETHICS CHAP 10

patient's right

refers to the moral and inviolable power vested in him/her as a person to do, hold, or demand something as his/her own

Duty

is the correlative of right.

 right

is something that belongs to a person by nature

right to self-determination

is the central element in the moral issue of patients' rights.

right to informed consent, right to an informed decision, right to informed choice, and right to refusal of treatment

 Types of Patients' Rights:

Right to informed consent

The patient has the right to receive all necessary information concerning diagnosis and treatment in order to be able to give consent based on his/her value system.

Informed consent

refers to the knowledge or information about and the consent to a particular form of medical treatment before that treatment is administered.

Right to an informed decision

Information and understanding are necessary for genuine deliberation. The patient cannot make a moral decision unless these two important elements are present.

Informed decision

refers to the necessary information of and the decision on a medical treatment before the latter is carried out

Informed choice

refers to the necessary information a patient should know about a medical treatment or experiment so that a moral choice can be made

1. Competence

2. Disclosure

3. Comprehension

4. Voluntariness

Four Major Elements of Informed Consent

Competence

refers to a patient's capacity for decision- making

1. one has made a decision

2. one has the capacity to justify one's choice

3. one does not only justify one's choice but does so in a reasonable manner

One is considered competent when:

Disclosure

refers to the content of what a patient is told or informed about during the consent negotiation.

Disclosure

The patient must be informed and must understand the information concerning the medical treatment to be undertaken so that a moral decision can be made.

Comprehension

refers to whether the information given has been understood or not.

Voluntariness

This means that consent must be voluntary. The patient must, of his/her own free will, agree to become a research subject, as the case may be.

American Hospital Association

In conjunction with the Statement on a Patient's Bill of Rights presented by the ______, "the patient has the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of his action"

the patient has the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of his action

In conjunction with the Statement on a Patient's Bill of Rights presented by the American Hospital Association, "_______"

Right to refusal of treatment

Many regard this ________ as fundamental in a free society, especially among those who advocate the freedom or right to die if and when the prevailing circumstances warrant it.

1. Patients' rights do not include the right to be allowed to die

2. A patient in a moribund condition does not possess the necessary mental or emotional stability to make an informed choice.

3. Patients' rights are not absolute.

 Limitations of Patients' Rights:

written consent and verbal consent

 two methods of obtaining informed consent:

written consent

which is a consent form to be filled out and signed by a patient as he/she checks in for admission in a hospital.

written consent

This practice, by all indications, appears to be only perfunctory because the clerk or admission personnel does not bother to explain the content of the consent form to the patient.

verbal consent

is usually made after a physician has briefed the patient about the medical process to be undertaken

1. comatose or obtunded patients

2. blind or illiterate patients

3. underage patients or those unable to understand the circumstances

4. patients limited by language barriers

types of patients need not require informed consent:

the parents, immediate relatives, guardians, or next of kin

In principle, ______ should be informed when the patient is comatose, blind or illiterate, underage, or unable to understand the language of the physician.

1. The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care.

2. The patient has the right to receive from his/her physician information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure and/or treatment.

3. The patient has the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of his/her action.

4. The patient has the right to every consideration of his/her privacy concerning his/her own medical care program.

5. The patient has the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to his/her care should be treated as confidential.

6. The patient has the right to examine and receive an explanation of the hospital bill, regardless of the source of payment.

rights of patients as they are documented in the American Hospital Association's (AHA) Statement on a Patient's Bill of Rights: