Observatoire des droits humains (anglais seulement)

Court rules that patients have a right to disbelieve doctors

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Dominic Wilkinson, Consultant Neonatologist and Professor of Ethics, University of Oxford
Bryanna Moore, Assistant Professor, Health Humanities and Bioethics, University of Rochester
Johnna Wellesley, PhD Candidate, Bioethics, The University of Texas Medical Branch

There is a clear ethical and legal principle that adults have a right to make decisions about their health. This is sometimes called the principle of patient autonomy. That is, of course, why doctors need patients’ consent before providing the treatment they recommend.

But we only really notice the ethical significance of this principle when patients make choices that go against medical advice and that doctors think are unwise or even dangerous. If we respect autonomy, those…

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