Sumienność lekarza a odmowa udzielenia świadczenia zdrowotnego niezgodnego z sumieniem
Physician’s conscientiousness and the refusal of health services contrary to conscience

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the required range of medical conscientiousness in the case of health services. Physician’s conscientiousness means proceeding in accordance with the art of the profession and current medical knowledge. The subject of discussion is an analysis of medical duties set out in Art. 4 of the Code of Medical Ethics in conjunction with Art. 4 of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist. Duty means acting in accordance with his conscience as a doctor. Conscientiousness should be seen as a situation in which the doctor refers to the incompatibility of the activities with his own conscience. The author analyses the current medical knowledge which determines the standard of medicine practice and his conscientiousness in relation to the patient. The refusal by a physician of a procedure depends on whether it is included in the current medical knowledge. The text answers the question of whether cases of refusal of health services, when they are examples of standard practice and are consistent with current medical knowledge, should be treated differently from cases when they lack such a character. The author defines the scope of a conscientious doctor in the case of a conscience clause.

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