Discussion of some aspects of the law on rights and duties in health care

Abstract

The recently presented law on rights and duties in health care is analyzed and found wanting, firstly because it is based on a constitutional right to health protection that lacks specification as to the State’s duties in providing health care to its citizens. In fact, the law goes no further than establishing some rights of patients receiving hospital care, where the duties of health care providers are presented as responses to patients’ rights claims. The law discusses rights of diverse importance, some of which only require institutional regulations and ordinance, but fails to focus on warranting access to medication and procedures required to provide essential medical care. In a country where health-related out-of-pocket payment is extremely high (up to 40%), the present law fails to mention subsidies, coverage or regulations that ought to protect patients from the vagaries of the health market. Patient autonomy is explicitly acknowledged, but then limited and conditioned under criteria that ignore the Declaration of Lisbon and widely accepted bioethical proposals.