Advance Directive Act in Uruguay

Commendable intention with a few inconsistencies

Authors

  • Frances Borches Duhalde Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29193/RMU.37.3.10

Keywords:

ETHICS, ADVANCE DIRECTIVES, LIVING WILLS

Abstract

Act 18.473 and Decree 385/013 which regulates it, were intended to provide a normative framework for individuals to state their preferences about certain medical acts when they are still capable of consenting to them, exercising their autonomy in advance, in light of the potential loss of their decision-making capacity. Therefore, the fact of performing or not a medical act, will not depend on the consent capacity of the individual at that precise moment, what differentiates it from the regular informed consent. This article aims to analyse the possible inconsistencies between what the law intended to achieve and what is actually authorized today. Certain aspects studied could at least partially explain why this norm is still very hard to enforce even after being effective for over 12 years.

References

1) Rodríguez Almada H, Revetria Bentancor M. Consentimiento informado y voluntad anticipada. En: Rodríguez Almada H, coord. Medicina Legal: derecho médico. 2 ed. Montevideo: Oficina del Libro-FEFMUR 2020:149-60.
2) Figueroa PR. Instrumentos legales en la toma de decisiones médicas en cuadros crónicos terminales. Bioética 1998, 6(1):7-12.
3) Rodríguez Almada H. La legislación uruguaya sobre las directivas de voluntad anticipada. En: Dadalto L, coord. Bioética e diretivas antecipadas de vontade. Curitiba: Prismas, 2014:199-215.
4) Rodríguez Almada H. La objeción de conciencia en la normativa uruguaya. Arch Med Int 2013; 35(2):66-8.
5) Mautone M, Rodríguez Almada H. Objeción de conciencia en el ámbito de la salud. Rev Méd Urug 2013; 29(1):40-2.
6) Pascual E, Castelló A. Perspectiva ética, deontológica y legal de las voluntades anticipadas. Gac Int Cienc Forense 2021; 39:70-9.
7) Manzini JL. Las directivas anticipadas para tratamientos médicos. Jurisprudencia Argentina 2001; 4(11):40-7.

Published

2021-08-24

How to Cite

1.
Borches Duhalde F. Advance Directive Act in Uruguay: Commendable intention with a few inconsistencies. Rev. Méd. Urug. [Internet]. 2021 Aug. 24 [cited 2024 Dec. 4];37(3):e37311. Available from: https://revista.rmu.org.uy/index.php/rmu/article/view/744

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