Informed Choice of Medical Services

This text argues the case for external regulation of the medical community in order to protect the rights and safety of people receiving medical treatment. The author believes that medical authoritarianism, and its failure to recognise the right to informed choice, is a result of the traditional western philosophical, political, legal and scientific focus on rationality as the major influence on human behaviour. While the discussion focuses on the exploitation of women by patriarchal medicine, this is not intended to discount the experiences of other groups whose right to self-determination is ignored by the medical community. The work proposes that the law in liberal democratic societies should protect these vulnerable citizens from rights violations. Only then will informed and voluntary choice of medical services be possible.