Legal dilemmas and resolution paths in the doctor-patient fiduciary relationship
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2026.01.10
- VernacularTitle:医患信义关系的法律困境和破解路径
- Author:
Pengkun LIU
1
;
Xirong XU
1
Author Information
1. School of Health Management， Guangzhou Medical University， Guangzhou 511436， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
doctor-patient fiduciary relationship;
legal dilemma;
fiduciary law;
resolution path
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2026;39(1):71-77
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
The doctor-patient fiduciary relationship confronts multiple legal dilemmas， such as the asynchrony between patients’ trust along with the granting of their body control rights and doctors’ fulfillment of diagnostic and treatment obligations， the difficulty in exhaustively specifying the content and performance standards of doctors’ diagnostic and treatment obligations in advance， the potential diminishment of medical service value due to excessive restrictions or interference with doctors’ autonomous decision-making， and the mismatch between the costs of patients supervising doctors and the benefits obtained. These dilemmas stem from the fact that the doctor-patient relationship constitutes a special fiduciary relationship based on trust， characterized by the transfer of fiduciary object， aimed at altruism， and marked by unequal status. To resolve the legal dilemmas in the doctor-patient fiduciary relationship， a shift from the “static trust” paradigm to the “dynamic fiduciary” paradigm is necessary. Guided by the concept of the doctor-patient community， a normative system for the doctor-patient fiduciary relationship should be constructed and refined， thereby fostering a fiduciary spirit， clarifying fiduciary obligations， implementing interest balancing， safeguarding patients’ rights and interests， enhancing remedies for breaches of trust， and strengthening supervision of doctors.
