The State Duma allowed emergency doctors to provide medical care without the patient’s consent

The State Duma adopted in the second and third readings law, which exempts mobile ambulance staff from the obligation to obtain consent for medical intervention from patients when there is a threat to their life. The document was developed back in 2019, its first reading took place in September 2020.

The authors of the bill propose to amend Art. 20 of the Law “On the Fundamentals of Health Protection”, according to which a precondition for medical intervention is the giving of informed voluntary consent (IDS) by the patient or his legal representative. In their opinion, such changes will make it possible to “speed up the receipt of timely and high-quality medical care for citizens and ensure legal protection for medical workers of the mobile emergency medical team.”

According to current Russian legislation, a decision on medical intervention without the consent of a citizen must be made by a council of doctors. However, as the authors of the initiative note, in the conditions of providing emergency medical care outside a medical organization, it is impossible to assemble a consultation.

“It is proposed to eliminate this gap and include in the list of persons who make a decision on medical intervention without the consent of a citizen due to his inability to express his will, a medical worker of a mobile ambulance team appointed as a senior,” the text of the law says. At the same time, the patient and his representatives retain the right to refuse medical intervention, but such a document must be drawn up in writing.