Patient rights consist of enforceable duties that healthcare professionals and healthcare business persons owe to patients to provide them with certain services or benefits. When such services or benefits become rights instead of simply privileges, then a patient can expect to receive them and can expect the support of people who enforce organization policies or legal codes to intervene on the patient's behalf if the patient does not receive them. A patient's bill of rights is a list of guarantees for those receiving medical care. It may take the form of a law or a non-binding declaration. Typically a patient's bill of rights guarantees patients information, fair treatment, and autonomy over medical decisions, among other rights.

India

Under the direction of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), India's National Human Rights Commission drafted a Charter of Patients' Rights in 2018. Following a recommendation by the National Council of Clinical Establishments, MOHFW submitted the draft in the public domain for comments and suggestions in August 2018. The Charter draws upon different provisions relevant to patients' rights that were previously scattered across the Constitution of India, the Drugs and Cosmetic Act of 1940, the Clinical Establishment Act of 2010, and various judgments by the Supreme Court of India, among other sources. The Charter aims to:

Recognized patients' rights

The Charter of Patients' Rights lists seventeen rights that patients are entitled to:

Morocco

Morocco has expressed its interest in recognizing the right to health for the entire population, a right rooted in the Islamic religion.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Patient's Charter was introduced and revised in the 1990s. It was replaced by the NHS Constitution for England in 2013.

United States

In the United States there have been a number of attempts to enshrine a patient's bill of rights in law, including a bill rejected by Congress in 2001.

Bill of 2001

The United States Congress considered a bill designed to safeguard patients' rights in 2001. The "Bipartisan Patient Protection Act" (S.1052), sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain, contained new rules for what health maintenance organizations had to cover and granted new rights for patients to sue in state or federal courts, if they are denied needed care. The House of Representatives and Senate passed differing versions of the proposed law. Although both bills would have provided patients key rights, such as prompt access to emergency care and medical specialists, only the Senate-passed measure would provide patients with adequate means to enforce their rights. The Senate's proposal would have conferred a broad array of rights on patients. It would have ensured that patients with health care plans had the right to: The bill was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 59–36 in 2001, it was then amended by the House of Representatives and returned to the Senate. Reportedly, president Bush threatened to veto the bill if it included the Senate's provision to allow patients to sue managed care organizations in the state and federal courts.

Industry resistance

Wendell Potter, former senior executive at Cigna-turned-whistleblower, has written that the insurance industry worked to kill "any reform that might interfere with insurers' ability to increase profits" by engaging in extensive and well-funded anti-reform campaigns. The industry, he says, "goes to great lengths to keep its involvement in these campaigns hidden from public view," including the use of "front groups".

The ethical responsibility of health professionals to respect patients' rights

By highlighting the ethical responsibility of health care professionals towards their patients, basic principles are mentioned, such as self-esteem, prevention of harm, promotion of well-being and justice. These principles play an essential role in guiding medical decisions, helping healthcare providers care for the well-being of patients while maintaining their decision-making capacity, thus achieving a fundamental balance between medical ethics and the commitment of health professionals to patients