The Scope of the Physician's Duty to Inform the Patient: Neurology as a Case Study

The Scope of the Physician's Duty to Inform the Patient

Abstract

The medical field is witnessing rapid advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, which have led to increasingly complex medical decisions and heightened associated risks. Consequently, this has underscored the growing importance of medical liability and the necessity of re-establishing the physician-patient relationship on balanced legal and ethical foundations. Within this context, the physician’s duty to inform emerges as one of the most critical safeguards for protecting patient rights and enhancing the legitimacy of medical intervention.
This study relies on the descriptive approach to illustrate the reality of modern medical practice, where physicians often operate under critical conditions characterized by time constraints and overlapping symptoms—particularly in specialized fields like neurology and neurosurgery, which demand fateful decisions that could profoundly impact the patient's life and vital functions. Practical applications within this sensitive field are also presented. To achieve the study’s objectives, the authors further employ the analytical approach to deconstruct the core substance of the duty to inform under the Libyan Medical Liability Law, delineating its legal boundaries, ethical dimensions, and relationship with the concept of informed consent.
Additionally, a comparative approach is utilized by conducting a comparative analysis with US health law, given that it is one of the pioneering and advanced systems in enshrining the principle of patient autonomy and establishing the doctrine of informed consent, while recognizing specific exceptions such as therapeutic privilege. The comparison reveals a relative gap in the Libyan regulatory framework, thereby necessitating the utilization of comparative experiences to develop the local legal structure.
Consequently, the authors recommend the formulation of a unified Libyan guide for the ethics of medical disclosure. This guide should balance Islamic jurisprudence principles (honesty/truthfulness, removal of harm, and necessity) with international standards (Autonomy, Informed Consent, and Therapeutic Privilege), while adapting the insights gained from the American experience to align with the Libyan legal and social environment.