O dobrych i złych stronach „bliskości” w ustawie z 6 listopada 2008 r. o prawach pacjenta i Rzeczniku Praw Pacjenta
About good and bad sides of “closeness” in Act of Patients’ Rights and the Commissioner for Patients’ Rights

Summary/Abstract: As a rule, patients and medical personnel are the main participants in the treatment process. Inreality, however, the persons “close” to the patient may the third part in this process. Their participationin it may be different, and principally depends on the will of the patient. As part of theamendment of the Patients’ Rights Act of 2016, the rights of relatives have been significantlyextended, as they now entitled to obtain information covered by medical confidentiality afterthe patient’s death. The author of the article speculates on possible benefits and threats that maycome from the participation of a “close person” in the treatment process, and then offers an ethicalreflection on the scope of their rights. The legislator has indicated who should be regardedas a “close person”. Therefore, it should be considered what means that someone is close to thepatient and whether it is reasonable to create legal definitions of such a concept. In addition, theauthor draws attention to the practical problem in determining who is the “close person” of thepatient. Most often, such a decision must be made by the physician, in a short time. Finally, theauthor poses the question: is the law a useful clue or an obstacle for the physician?

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