Human rights and informed consent in clinical practice: beyond the right to health

Abstract

Providing medical care is us a complex process that requires a strict respect for human rights. In countries like Peru, despite of having regulations and specific laws, patient´s autonomy is not a common currency and certainly paternalism and beneficence generally overrule in physicians decision making. In this type of reality the requirement to health care professionals for respecting fundamental rights should be considered crucial, far more than in societies where citizens are really empowered. But to achieve the full respect of human rights, especially when providing a health care service, there is the need to go much further than just advocating for appropriate legislation and regulatory frameworks. In this article I argue that the violation of certain rights as the informed consent process by health care providers, is rooted in how these professionals, specially medical doctors trained in the western tradition, establish priorities and arrive to moral judgments. In this scenario I consider the need of a change in the way the Human Rights framework is being used to improve fundamental rights respect in health care.