Letter of discipline Against the Amendment of the Patient Rights Ombudsman Act
Understanding the request to defend patients from abuse or even to effort to deceive them by offering services that propose treatment and in the interests of the credibility of public wellness knowledge, and at the same time with all due respect for the tremendous achievements of modern medicine, we object to the amendment of the Act on the Ombudsman of the Patient in the form passed by the Sejm and call on the legislature of the Republic of Poland to reject it, and in case the bill reaches the President's desk, we urge the president of the Republic of Poland to mention it to the Constitutional Court or veto it.
The basis of our position is simply a number of shortcomings that the Act contains. Below are the most crucial ones.
1. There is no clear definition of the key concept of "up-to-date medical knowledge" on which the full sanctioning structure of the Act is based. The legislator himself in the Public Consultation study stated six times that the concept does not specify it in any legal act and does not intend to do so. We note that according to the commonly cited survey Densen P. ("Challenges and Opportunities Facing Medical Education", Transactions of the American Clinical and Clinical Association, 2011, vol. 122) the time of doubling medical cognition in 2010 was 3.5 years and the forecast for 2026 was only 73 days. This means that the concept of ‘update’ of medical cognition is inherently variable in time, multivoiced and requires a precise statutory definition — without which the constitutional rule of legal definition is violated (lex certa, Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland).
2. Limiting the constitutional rule of freedom of expression, including freedom of debate on fresh or unconventional treatments, both in the medical community and in society as a whole. The Act provides, inter alia, for the anticipation of cutting off access to websites containing, in the assessment of the Ombudsman, content classified as ‘medical disinformation’. The task provides for the imposition of advanced financial sanctions for certain forms of information on wellness procedures. In combination with rough definitions, this may lead to:
• limiting public debate,
• chilling effect,
• legal uncertainty as to the limits of permissible expression.
3. There are no clear interpretations of the legality of conventional and complementary medicine practices, including Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurveda — even though they are treatment systems operating in many European wellness systems and recognised by the planet wellness Organisation in the Global conventional medicine strategy 2025–2034.
4. Excessive function of the Ombudsman of Patient Rights as a simultaneously accuser, justice and enforcer. The Act does not supply for compulsory participation of advisory bodies on technological competence, does not supply for an automatic anticipation of appeal to the courts, and besides introduces the rigor of immediate enforceability of the decision. akin concerns were besides expressed publically during the work of the Sejm wellness Committee — Janusz Cieszynski (PiS) pointed out that the task makes the Ombudsman “a prosecutor and justice at the same time”.
5. Lack of proportionality of sanctions on gross received. Penalties of up to PLN 1,000,000 may be imposed without mention to the scale of activity of the entity, its actual turnover or the degree of responsibility — which violates the constitutional rule of proportionality (Article 31(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland).
International context
We note that in many countries of the planet conventional medical systems are offered even by hospitals of western medicine or operate in separate authoritative facilities offering specified services. This is the case in the UK, Switzerland, China, India and Japan.
In particular, citizens of the Swiss Confederation in the national referendum of 17 May 2009 advocated the inclusion of complementary medicine in the wellness system, and the right to freedom of choice of treatments was included in the national Constitution of Switzerland (Article 118a).
For more information on the inclusion of complementary and conventional medicine in the healthcare systems of different countries, see the planet wellness Organisation paper "Global conventional medicine strategy 2025–2034", adopted by the WHO General Assembly.
Existing law already allows prosecution of abuse
We besides believe that many of the abuses that the law is expected to fight can be effectively sanctioned within the existing legal order — under the provisions of the Criminal Code (Articles 155, 160, 286), the Doctor and Dentist Act (Article 58).
Postulate
Therefore, we propose to reject the amendment of the Act and to set up teams that will in a realistic way undertake a dialog between representatives of the authorities of the Republic of Poland, the authoritative wellness care strategy and representatives of the main streams of complementary and conventional medicine, in order to make a reliable legal framework for their functioning.
Signatures
Prof. dr hab. Łukasz Luszaj, Department of Biology, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, University of Rzeszów
Dr. Henryk Różanski, National Academy of Applied Sciences Krosno
Dr. Krzysztof Blecha, National Academy of Applied Sciences Krosno
Dr. Marek Kalmus , Vice president of the planet Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS)
based in Beijing, Honorary president of the Polish Society of conventional medicine of China
(PTTMC), associate of the European conventional Chinese medicine Association (ETCMA), manager of the Institute of medicine of China and the Prevention of wellness (Placowka Szkolenia Stacznej w Krakowie), Managing manager of the Center for medicine of China in Krakow (Alignmentary Subject)
Prof. hab, Józef Mitka, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, erstwhile manager of the Botanical Garden in Krakow
Prof. Dr. Maria Halina Borawska, prof. of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Pharmacology and Bromatology
Prof. hab. Ryszard Zajączkowski, Catholic University of Lublindr hab. Anna Górecka-Nowak, Institute of Geological Sciences of the Department of Earth Sciences and Environmental Development, Wroclaw University
Prof. dr hab. Agnieszka Popiela, biologist, University of Szczecin
Prof. dr hab. n. med. Andrzej Frydrychowski
Dr. Justyna Kiliańczyk-Ziaba, Dr. hab., Prof. UJ, Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University
Dr. Paweł Kapusta, biologist, W. Szafera Institute of Botany PAS, Kraków
dr hab. inż. Krzysztof Kud, prof. of method University of Rzeszów
Dr. Sylwia Skuza, Prof. UMK, Head of the Roma Language Department, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Dr. Ewa Luchter-Wasylewska, retired worker of the Jagiellonian University, Chair of Medical Biochemistry CMUJ
Dr. Renata Szyszlak, Prof. UR, Art Department, University of Rzeszów, Michał Mos, Energene Seeds, Aberystwyth University, UK
dr hab. n. med. Agnieszka Banaś-Ząbczyk, Prof. UR, Medical Faculty, University of Rzeszów
Dr. Lucyna Brzozowska, Bielsko-Biała
dr hab. med. Dorota Sienkiewicz, president of the Polish Association of Independent Doctors and ScientistsDr. Luiza Jedlina, immunologist of parasitologist, Warsaw
dr hab. inż. Anna Janicka, prof. of the university, Head of the laboratory for emanation Research, Wroclaw University of Technology
Dr. Klara Anna Wojtkowska, Anthropologist of Culture, Mhondoro Dreams Productions Director
Dr. Anna Górska, PhD in Medical Sciences, Retired, Białystok
Dr Anna Górecka-Nowak
dr hab. n. biol. Marzen Wojciechowska, prof. ICHB PAN, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Department of uncommon Diseases, Poznańdr Jarosław Pacek, Institute of Culture Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice
Dr Justyna Łuczaj-Saley, Art Department, Rzeszów University
Dr. Klara Anna Wojtkowska, Anthropologist of Culture, Mhondoro Dreams Productions Director
Dr. Urszula F. Banas-Stankiewicz, Geobotanik, Szczecin
Dr. Catherine Chabinka
Dr. Beata Radomska, sociologist
Dr. Norman Pieniuszek, Polish and American geneticist, doctor of natural sciences, specialist in molecular diagnostics, retired academic and long-term head of the mention and improvement laboratory for Molecular Diagnosis at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (CDC) in Atlanta (United States).
Dr. Jacek J. Nowak, retired lecturer at Bogdan Janski University in Warsaw (now Janski University)
Dr Wojciech Zarzycki, president of the “Pluma Verde” Association, independent scientist, Katowice
Dr. Robert Ostrowski, Department of Plastic Processing, Rzeszów University of Technology
Dr. Aleksandra Kulpan, PhD in Politics and Administration, Wroclaw University
Dr. Marzena Gypsy-Baconiak
Dr. Marta Sitak, bio-bed
Ms Sylwia Ufnalska, Honorary associate of the European Association of discipline Editors (EASE), initiator and long-term coordinator of the task “EASE Guidelines”
Foreign researchers
Dr. Norberto Gavioli, Associate prof. in algebra, University of L’Aquila, Italy
In the coming days, more signatories will be added to this list. Scientists with a doctor's degree of minimum, curious in signing under the letter invitation you to contact us at [email protected] and compose an email in the style: “I support the list of people of discipline against the amendment of the Patient Rights Ombudsman Act and delight show my signature publicly”. delight besides include affiliation.
Comment, which I add after drafting the letter:
The Act runs counter to EU legislation, namely Article 16 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – freedom to conduct business;
Article 52(1) of the Charter - rule of proportionality of restrictions on fundamental rights,
Article 47 Charters – the right to effective judicial protection and Article 56 TFEU –
Freedom to supply services.
Explaining:
If, for example, a German therapist is legally active at home and wishes to supply services in Poland and Poland practically prevents him from doing business, the question may arise:
Is the regulation proportionate?
Is the measurement taken excessive?
If the rules usage terms specified as:
“current medical knowledge”,
“medical disinformation”,
“ pseudomedical practice”,
is:
Is an entrepreneur able to foretell in advance what kind of behaviour is legal?
The TEU has repeatedly stressed that the provisions imposing severe sanctions should be sufficiently clear and predictable.
