Biomaterial Database

[Legal Proxies in Medicine: Representatives and Legal Guardians]. 2019

Gerald Neitzke

Patients' rights need to be protected, particularly if the patient is unconscious or otherwise unable to consent. According to German law, a legal proxy is mandatory. Spouses and adult children do not automatically function as legal proxies. There are two alternative ways to become a legal proxy: a patient representative (Bevollmächtigter) is authorized by a written power of attorney (Vorsorgevollmacht), signed by the patient. If there is no power of attorney, a legal guardian (Betreuer) has to be appointed by a guardianship court. Both representatives and guardians are obliged to support the patient and are only allowed to make medical decisions, if the patient is currently unable to give his/her consent. The legal proxy is obligated to take into account advance directives, other patient preferences and presumed wishes. Recommendations and examples are given on how to apply these documents in medical practice and how to deal with legal representatives and guardians.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007872	Legal Guardians	A legal concept for individuals who are designated to act on behalf of persons who are considered incapable of acting in their own behalf, e.g., minors and persons found to be not mentally competent.	Guardian, Legal,Guardians, Legal,Legal Guardian
D008297	Male		Males
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D003657	Decision Making	The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.	Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D016223	Advance Directives	Declarations by patients, made in advance of a situation in which they may be incompetent to decide about their own care, stating their treatment preferences or authorizing a third party to make decisions for them. (Bioethics Thesaurus)	Health Care Power of Attorney,Medical Power of Attorney,Healthcare Power of Attorney,Psychiatric Wills,Ulysses Contracts,Advance Directive,Attorney Healthcare Power,Attorney Medical Power,Contract, Ulysses,Contracts, Ulysses,Directive, Advance,Directives, Advance,Psychiatric Will,Ulysses Contract,Will, Psychiatric,Wills, Psychiatric
D028701	Patient Rights	Fundamental claims of patients, as expressed in statutes, declarations, or generally accepted moral principles. (Bioethics Thesaurus) The term is used for discussions of patient rights as a group of many rights, as in a hospital's posting of a list of patient rights.	Right to Treatment,Patient's Rights,Patients' Rights,Patient Right,Patient's Right,Patients Rights,Patients' Right,Right to Treatments,Right, Patient,Right, Patient's,Right, Patients',Rights, Patient,Rights, Patient's,Rights, Patients',Treatment, Right to,Treatments, Right to