Via practica 1/2013
Provision of health care without consent of patient
The author deals with medical and legal contexts of providing health care to which the patient is unable or unwilling to give consent. This is a very serious issue not only from medical but also from legal and ethical point of view. Professional community is often poorly oriented in this, thus facing the risk of criminal legal sanctions. Each physician must therefore be familiar with the provision of health care without the consent of the patient complicated by extreme urgency, by complex circumstances of the diagnoses as well as the treatment or by non- standard environment.
Keywords: health care without the consent of the patient, informed consent, emergency medical care, urgent transport
