Living Will and Doctor-Patient Relationship from the perspective of Autonomy and Human Dignity

Abstract

This paper reflects on the legal provisions of the patient's will, living will, regulated by the Federal Council of Medicine. The objective was to demonstrate, in a legal perspective, that the instrument is consistent with the Brazilian legal system. For this reflection, ethics and bioethics literature concerning the issue were used. The aim was to establish the living will to guarantee the prevalence of terminal patient's autonomy as a guarantor instrument of the right to die with dignity. Subsequently, it was examined that although not expressly positive in Brazilian law, the interpretation of the principles of human autonomy and dignity, allows the undeniable conclusion that the legal business finds lodgment in the constitutional order. It was observed that to ensure the validity of living wills is essential the disposition of the will, allowing to doctor-patient relationship to occurs inside the necessary parameters to apply dignity and autonomy at the end of life.