Droits des malades : de la loi de 2002 à celle de 2005

Since 2002, French legislation (the Kouchner law) has enabled the implication of patients in the decision-making process. Nevertheless, and despite various refinements and precisions including the Leonetti law, certain clinical situations still raise difficult problems. Looking beyond the legal aspect, an ethical approach to the issues reveals the importance of questions concerning the real nature of the problems arising in end-of-life situations. In this article, we describe a specific clinical case illustrative of the complex situations which can arise and which lie outside the strictly legal framework of the 2005 legislation.