While recognizing the need to protect patients from abuse and from attempts to mislead them through services falsely presented as medical treatment, seeking to safeguard the credibility of publicly communicated health information and expressing our utmost respect for the tremendous achievements of modern medicine, we oppose the amendment to the Act concerning the Patient Rights Ombudsman in the form adopted by the Sejm. We therefore call upon the Senate of the Republic of Poland to reject the bill. Should the bill reach the President of the Republic of Poland, we urge the President to refer it to the Constitutional Tribunal or to exercise the Presidential veto. Our position is based on a number of serious shortcomings contained in the bill. The most important of these are presented below. 1. Lack of a clear definition of the key concept of “current medical knowledge” The entire sanctioning framework of the bill is based on the concept of “current medical knowledge,” yet this term remains undefined. In the Report on Public Consultations, the legislator explicitly stated on six occasions that this concept is not defined in any legal act and that there is no intention to define it. We note that according to … Continue reading Open Letter from Members of the Scientific Community Opposing the Amendment to the Act concerning the Patient Rights Ombudsman in Poland