The patient's consent is the legal basis for any medical intervention only if it is preceded by appropriate information given to the patient by the doctor (informed consent). The doctor's duty to inform and the patient's associated right to be informed are contained in codes of deontology, numerous international documents and resolutions, as well as in national laws, the most important of which is the 1996 Act on the Profession of Physician and Dentist (Art. 31) and the 2008 Act on Patient Rights and Patient Ombudsman. (Art. 9). According to the law, the information provided to the patient (or, if the patient is unable to receive it, to his or her legal representative or a competent 'close person') should be clear, transparent, understandable to the specific patient (as a layperson) and provided in an appropriate (adequate) time before the procedure. The scope and subject matter of the information is very broad, as the doctor is obliged to inform the patient about his or her state of health, the proposed and possible diagnostic and therapeutic methods, the foreseeable consequences of their application or omission, the results of the treatment and the prognosis for the future. As a general rule, the information should only cover the normal (typical, usual) risks and side effects that may occur in a particular patient. However, the patient has a 'right to know the truth' and, at his or her request, the doctor should give him or her full information, including all extraordinary consequences and complications that occur very rarely (exceptionally). A doctor who, through his or her own fault, violates the patient's right to be informed may be liable for civil liability for non-material damage under Article 4 of the Act on Patients' Rights and Patients' Ombudsman. The burden of proof for the fulfilment of the duty to inform lies with the doctor (Article 6 of the Civil Code). He or she must then prove that the information he or she provided about the risks and consequences of treatment formed the basis for the patient's consent to or refusal of a particular medical intervention.
Patient's right to information under Polish medical law
14 December 2022