PATIENT’S CONSCIOUS REFUSAL OF TREATMENT AND REQUEST FOR ACTIVETREATMENT WHEN RECOVERY IS NOT POSSIBLE
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients refusing medical treatment that would be most probably successful at the time ofdiagnosis present a specific ethic dilemma for a practitioner. The biggest problem lies inpatients with malignant diseases as the treatment in the final period is usually unsuccessfuland is focused mainly on the pain relief. On the other hand, treatment refusal is one ofthe prime rights of all competent patients disregarding the fact they may threaten theirown health or even life.Patients and A case of 80-year old female patient with a spindle cell carcinoma on her face that wasmethods malignantly spreading to other body sites and organ systems is presented. Patient refusedvisiting a specialist doctor for four years and consented to treatment only in the final stageof the disease when radical treatment was not possible. CONCLUSIONS General practitioner and a specialist doctor are faced with difficult dilemma when there isa case of a competent but unwilling to consent patient refusing the timely treatment inspite of the predicted fatal consequencesDownloads
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