Why Is Medical Consent Personal?

Abstract

The article engages with the nature of medical consent in the context of a patient's proxy granted in case of decision-making capacity. It argues that based on the general legal provisions on proxy, the patient cannot make medical decisions by a representative. Therefore, informed consent is of a personal nature. The thesis is supported by a comparative-legal analysis of selected continental and common law systems, Kant's and Mill's concept of autonomy, and functional reasoning.