Glasnik Advokatske komore Vojvodine (Jan 2020)
The right to refuse medical treatment and passive euthanasia
Abstract
Having in mind the obligation of a physician, as stipulated in the Law on Patients' Rights, to respect the will of the patient even when the will is directed toward the refusal of life-sustaining medical treatment, as well as the misdemeanor liability of a physician, prescribed by the same law, for treatment without informed consent, the paper considers how the patient's right to refuse medical treatment affects the physician's responsibility for the patient's death in terms of the provisions of the Criminal Code. Also, the paper analyzes whether in certain situations the physician is even able to comply with the provisions of both of the mentioned regulations, or whether the harmonization of legal solutions is needed.
