15 Union of Turkish Bar Associations Review 2022 Süleyman ÖZAR medical intervention must be genuinely free and informed. According to the Convention, such enlightenment must be made “in advance” and provide “necessary information about the purpose and nature of the intervention as well as its probable outcomes and risks”.45 Informed consent, a highly important procedure also under the Codes of Ethics of Medical Science issued by the Turkish Medical Association,46 means that the person concerned be fully and properly informed of all facts concerning his/her situation in order to enable him/her to form a judgment about the initiation, continuation, suspension or refusal of any medical intervention.47 45 The provisions regarding informed consent in the Turkish legislation include but are not limited to: Article 7 of Law no. 2238 on the Removing, Storage, Grafting, and. Transplantation of Organs and Tissues; Article 31 § 1 of the Regulation on Patients’ Rights; Article 14 § 2 of the Medical Deontology. Article 70 of Law No 1219 on the Method of Execution of the Medicine and Medical Sciences also make an implicit reference to the physician’s liability to inform the patient (Özcan & Özel, p. 59). 46 Article 26 of the Codes of Ethics of Medical Profession, titled “Informed Consent”, reads as follows: “The physician shall inform the patient about the latter’s state of health and the diagnosis in question, the method of the recommended treatment, prospect of success and duration of this treatment, the risks involved in the recommended treatment, the administration of the prescribed drugs and their probable side effects, the probable outcomes if the patient refuses the recommended treatment, as well as about any alternative treatment options and risks. The informing process should be in accordance with the cultural, social and mental circumstances of the patient. The information should be provided in a way that will be easily comprehended by the patient. The patient himself shall designate any other persons who will be informed of his disease. Any health-related action may be taken only upon the free and informed consent of the person concerned. If the consent is obtained under pressure, threat, through misinformation or deception, it shall be deemed null and void. In emergencies or in cases where the patient is under age or he is unconscious or he is not able to form a judgment, the authority to give consent shall be his legal representative. If the physician considers that the legal representative refuses to consent with malicious intent and such refusal endangers the patient’s life, the situation must be notified to the judicial authorities so as to obtain consent. If it is not possible to notify the situation to the judicial authorities, the physician shall consult with another physician, or shall take an action merely for the purpose of saving the patient’s life. In case of an emergency, it is at the physician’s discretion to make the necessary interventions. As the diseases, the treatment of which is necessitated by laws, poses a risk to public health, the necessary treatment shall be performed even in the absence of the consent of the patient or his legal representative. The patient may at any time withdraw his informed consent he has already given.” (https:// www.ttb.org.tr/mevzuat/index.php?option=com_content&id=65& Itemid=31) (date of last pageview: 11.04.2021). 47 Sibel İnceoğlu, Ölme Hakkı (Right to Die), İstanbul 1999, p. 160.
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