The constitutional nature of health care without consent and the cases considered to be «life emergencies».

Authors

  • GONZALO ARRUEGO RODRÍGUEZ

Keywords:

Fundamental right to life. Fundamental rights to physical and psychological integrity. Medical treatment without the patient’s consent, «life saving treatment refusal».

Abstract

Though the patient’s autonomy, and therefore his/her rights to choose and to refuse the medical treatment, is one of the guiding principles of the Spanish medical legislation, there are diverse situations in which the law recognises the legitimacy of providing, or even imposing, a medical treatment without/against the patient’s consent. Departing from the Spanish Constitutional Court doctrine on the fundamental rights to life and to physical and psychological integrity, this article explores the constitutional nature of those situations and tries to provide the key elements to elucidate the constitutional meaning of the so called cases of «life saving treatment refusal».

Published

2008-05-07

Issue

Section

STUDIES