O dever de esclarecimento médico nos casos de diagnóstico de doença grave ou incurável ou prognóstico de vida limitado e o artigo 157º do Código Penal

Object of this paper is the content of the medical duty of disclosure enshrined in article 157º of the Criminal Code, as a condition for informed consent and for the legitimacy of the medical intervention, and its exceptions. According to this article, the patient has the right to be informed about the diagnosis and the nature, the extent, the scale and possible consequences of the intervention or the treatment, except if this involves the communication of circumstances which, being known by the patient, would endanger his life or would be able of causing great damage to his physical or psychological health. In regard to this legal regime it is debatable the relevance of the vulnerability of the patient and his fear of death as exceptions to the duty of disclosure in cases of diagnosis of serious or incurable illness, or prognosis of limited life expectancy. This question must be seen within the broader context of the discussion about the content and the limits of the criminal protection of the patient autonomy, and in the light of the significance of the proportionality principle as justification.