INTRODUCTION OF THE INSTITUTION OF PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED WISHES REGARDING MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS IN MEDICAL LAW OF UKRAINE: STATE AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The aim. The aim of the article is to study the implementation of the principle of autonomy in the medical law of Ukraine, to determine the compliance of the medical legislation of Ukraine with the specified principle in terms of the exercising of the human right to express wishes for the provision of medical care in the future in case if a patient cannot personally express such wishes. Materials and methods. The authors have studied the European standards and practice of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the right of a person to participate in the decision-making process on the provision of medical care, scientific works of specialists in the field of medical law, dedicated to the patient's right to informed consent to medical intervention, the right to refuse treatment and ethical standards of legal regulation of relations with the participation of patients using the formal-logical method, the method of structural analysis, comparative method and legal modeling. Results. The study has found that there are gaps in the normative regulation of the patient's right to participate in the decision-making process in the provision of medical care, which carries a potential danger of violating the right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Conclusions. It is proposed to eliminate these gaps by ratifying the Oviedo Convention by Ukraine, implementation of the institution of previously expressed wishes in the national legislation, determining the mechanism for drawing up, changing and revoking previously expressed medical directives, the designation an authorized person in case a patient is unable to independently express his or her own wishes for the provision of medical care taking into account the European experience, cultural characteristics of Ukrainian society, the state of functioning of the institutional and legal systems and the level of development of biology and medicine.

Keywords

• autonomy, patient self-determination, medical advance directives, bioethical principles, informed consent, refusal of treatment.