PHYSICIAN'S OBLIGATION TO INFORM PATIENT AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF PHYSICIAN

The paper discusses disputable issues related to the obligation of the physician to inform the patient in order to obtain his valid consent to undertake a medically indicated procedure. The subject of comparative analysis is this institute in domestic regulation (primarily in the Law on Patients' Rights) and in certain European and Anglo-Saxon solutions, in order to formulate proposals for more adequate determination for domestic regulation de lege ferenda. The author critically analyzes: the doctrine of "informed consent"; the scope of the physician's obligation to inform the patient; the issue of limiting the rules on mandatory patient information, and in particular, the so-called "Therapeutic privilege". The author draws a conclusion about the new legal solution as more comprehensive than the previous one and more harmonized with European standards, which finally recognizes the predominance of the patient's right to self-determination over the principle of preserving the patient's wellbeing. The paper also critically discusses the types and conditions for establishing the civil liability of a physician for damage caused to a patient by denying notification, by violating his personal right to self-determination