Informed Consent as a Form of Medical Legal Responsibility in the Perspective of Patients’ Rights Fulfillment in Hospitals

Abstract

The right to health constitutes a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen, as guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Within the framework of hospital-based healthcare services, this right is operationalized through the mechanism of informed consent, which functions simultaneously as a legal obligation of medical professionals and as a core instrument for safeguarding patients’ rights. This study addresses two principal research questions: first, how informed consent is implemented as a manifestation of the legal responsibility of medical professionals in ensuring the optimal fulfillment of patients’ rights in hospitals; and second, how the patient’s right to health is positioned as a central instrument in the realization of health rights within hospital services. This research adopts a normative juridical method, employing constitutional, statutory, and health regulatory approaches. The analysis is conducted through the perspectives of legal liability theory and human rights theory to assess the normative coherence and practical implications of informed consent in healthcare delivery. The findings demonstrate that informed consent extends beyond a mere administrative requirement, functioning as a legal and ethical mechanism that provides legal protection for medical professionals while ensuring patients’ rights to adequate information, personal autonomy, and equitable treatment. However, the study identifies a significant gap between well-established legal norms and their practical implementation. In practice, informed consent is frequently reduced to a procedural formality, accompanied by persistent paternalistic approaches and, in some cases, discriminatory healthcare practices. These conditions undermine the substantive realization of patients’ right to health and weaken informed consent as a meaningful instrument of rights protection within hospital settings.