Health Minister Memişoğlu: Electronic Consent and Patient-Worker Rights Converging Under Single Framework

Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu announced at the 1st Medicine and Justice Symposium held at a hotel in Sarıyer on Saturday, October 17, that patient rights and healthcare worker protections will be unified under a single legal framework, and that preparations for electronic consent regulations have reached the final stage. Sabah Gazetesi reported the announcement.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, Constitutional Court President Kadir Özkaya, Court of Cassation President Ömer Kerkez, and Council of State President Zeki Yiğit also attended the two-day symposium. The symposium addressed medical practices in the context of criminal cases, compensation liability, and professional responsibility as it affects physicians.

Electronic consent means transferring paper-based patient consent forms to digital format; if implemented, it will shorten the signature process in outpatient visits. The draft regulation was first brought to the agenda in 2024 but did not become law at that time.

Justice Minister Gürlek, in his remarks, addressed the joint responsibility of the judiciary and healthcare workers during disaster periods, and remembered those who lost their lives in heavy rainfall in Istanbul and Sakarya.