The Position of Doctors and Patients in Therapeutic Agreements

In essence, the position of the two parties between the doctor and the patient in the therapeutic agreement is not balanced. Because the doctor has sufficient understanding and experience about the patient's illness and how to treat it, on the other hand, patients who come to the doctor generally do not recognize the disease they are suffering from and are in an unhealthy condition, this puts the patient in a weak position.

Given his weak position, it is appropriate that the doctor is obliged to make the best efforts for the patient. In a therapeutic agreement, the patient has the right to determine for himself what should be treated on him (right of self determination), while the doctor must make the best efforts for the patient. This is a result of the patient's right to health services. The therapeutic agreement gives rise to an engagement called ispanningverbintenis", which is an engagement whose performance is a healing effort, not necessarily a cure.

If the patient is still not cured after receiving healing efforts from the doctor, the patient cannot immediately demand compensation from the doctor. The patient is allowed to claim compensation if the doctor in the healing process does not make the best efforts in health services or acts outside the doctor's professional standards.