Abstract

In the era of emerging updates of medical field theories, and its practical application, it is not uncommon to have some of basic ethical issues and/or related principles blurred especially in thought-provoking cases, to the new generation of doctors or even those who were working for a long time, challenging them to reach a final ethical decision in the dilemma of medicolegal cases, since law falls behind science in many aspects, probably due to its elongated and/or routine procedures that might need approval from the parliament for example in order to establish or apply a new legislation, however, the law work hand to hand with medical ethics to cover the right of professionals and patients to protect them. This paper aims to explore the conceptual distinction between patient autonomy and the concept related to a negative right to refuse a treatment rather than a positive right to demand unnecessary prescription, showing that the right to consent to medical treatment is merely a power to compel and exploring how jurisprudence, medical ethics and moral values, are cornerstones in the concept of consent and the related doctrines grounded in principles, highlighting the balance between rights and the obligations of the patients and the healthcare providers as a well-functioning healthcare system .