The Legal Nature of Patient Duties

Abstract

The role of patient duties depends on the model of the medical treatment relationship in which the patient is involved.Traditionally, there have been two models of the medical treatment relationship, variations of which have formed withsmall differences in the principles but the same core understanding. However, the tendency to search for a new modelof the medical treatment relationship is observed where actualisation of patient duties also has importance in themodern day. There are arguments and discussions about the legal effect of patient duties where completely oppositeopinions are expressed. The answer probably lies in the basic principles of modern civil rights, which mark the legalnature of patient duties in the legal relationship in medical treatment. Patient non-adherence or only partial adherenceto their duties brings about negative legal consequences, which have specific features that are different from the gen-eral civil rights principles. The research aim is to analyse the legal nature of patient duties by evaluating their role andlegal effect in the medical treatment relationship and specifying the directions of the legal consequences of inadequateadherence to these duties.