THE DYING PATIENT’S RIGHT TO CONSENT TO PAIN MANAGEMENT VERSUS THE RIGHT TO DIE IN PEACE – A CONFLICT OF NORMS

The authors analyze the problem of the conflict of norms governing patient rights, i.e. the right to consent to pain management versus the right to die in peace and with dignity. The subject of consideration are the provisions of the Act on Patient Rights and Patient Ombudsman and relevant deontology norms. The research hypothesis adopted by the authors is the assumption that the Polish civil law safeguards in a special way the autonomy of the person facing impending death. End-of-life pain management is governed by special rules regarding the patient’s competency to consent or object to a medical intervention. This claim has its functional justification. In order to legally start managing the pain of a dying patient medical practitioners need to obtain the patient’s consent providing that the patient is mentally capable (regardless of their age or legal incapacitation). Terminally ill patients can make legally binding advance care directives regarding future pain management. The authors deliberations lead to the conclusion that what needs to be discussed further is not whether the patient at the end of life has an expanded scope of autonomy but the extent of this expansion.