Last update:
10-Dec-2008

The consent of patients to each medical intervention constitutes a manifestation of their right for autonomy and self-determination, which is founded in the Constitution, in international conventions and in common law. However, the validity of the consent presupposes relevant information of the patient about the nature and the complications of the particular medical intervention. In daily practice the problem is for the physician to be able to prove that, before the consent of the patient, complete, relevant, thorough and specific to the case information has been provided, since non-existent or insufficient information makes the consent invalid and leads to penal or civil consequences for the physician. In the present study the medical obligation for providing the organ donor candidate and the recipient for transplantation information is being analyzed specifically, as an essential prerequisite for their consent for surgical interventions, such as the organ removal and transplantation respectively.

Key words: Information, Informed consent, Organ donor-recipient, Transplantation.