Medical consumer can be defined as a person who receives the medical service provided by medical personnel or medical institutes. Medical service is the professional service that depends on the judgement and speciality of the medical personnel and also it can be varied by the decision that each doctor provides.
Medical service has several characteristics such as intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability since it is very difficult to produce in a great quantity, to produce according to the orders, and to save, mechanize, or automatize the process, which are a normal process for the mass production in manufacturing companies. In medical contract relating to mostly medical practice, doctors have the rights and duties to the patients as a professional with specialized medical knowledge and the patients have the certain rights and duties in medical practice as well. We did the comparative analysis between the patient´s rights and damage relief as a medical consumer, and the customer´s rights and damage relief appearing on the Consumer´s Protection Law.
As a result, the related provisions for the medical consumer´s rights on the Medical Services Law seem not quiet satisfied or adequate. Till now the medical consumer´s movement has been recognized as a minor branch of the consumer´s movement.
Therefore, there have been not much deep discussions and opinions systematically.
The medical consumer´s movement is not the one that treats patients as a passive position to just receive the medical service, but the one that treats patients as an equal, cooperative position with doctors to take care of their own health. Therefore, we insist “patient Sovereignty” that the patients become the active participants and subjects of the medical decision.
The final goal that the medical consumer´s movement tries to achieve is to improve the relationship between doctors and patients to the right direction by making clear each other´s rights and responsibilities.
In order to accomplish this goal more specifically, we should legalize the certain rights that make medical consumers overcome their inferior position into specific provisions. in addition, the state should establish the system that provides the equal opportunities to receive the equal medical service to medical consumers. Medical consumers also should speak out with one voice to protect their own interests, not as an individual but as an autonomous group.
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