Tout ce que vous vouliez savoir sur la loi Léonetti

Recent evolution in both society and the physician-patient relation leads to view, under a renewed perspective, the following questions: patient rights, right to be informed, consent to care, refusal of care, and commits medical teams towards new ethical considerations. This article offers an analysis of the main chapters of the Law dated April 22nd, 2005 relative to the rights of patients (articles 1-10). It deals with the themes of care restriction and refusal, by insisting on the concept of patient ability as a central element of the personal decision process, as well as the collegial process in hard-context decision closely associated to the use of an ethical decision-making tool (briefly presented). It focuses on collecting the word and wishes of the patient, leading to issues such as opinion persistence, early directives and person of trust that are stipulated in this law. Furthermore, the article clarifies the concept of “double-effect” (article 2).