Informed Consent and Medical Records: What Rights Patients Have in Peru

The misconception: thinking the doctor decides and you just sign

A lot of people assume the relationship with their doctor works like this: the professional decides what’s best, and the patient signs a form before surgery because “that’s just the paperwork.” Ley 26842 (the General Health Law) and Ley 30947 (the Mental Health Law) describe something different: patients have a right to real, understandable information before agreeing to treatment, a right to access and copy their own medical record, and a right that consent not be skipped except in exceptional, reviewable circumstances.

What your doctor must explain before a treatment

Article 15, numeral 15.2, letter f) of Ley 26842 is precise about what information you’re entitled to, and in what form:

“A recibir en términos comprensibles información completa, oportuna y continuada sobre su enfermedad, incluyendo el diagnóstico, pronóstico y alternativas de tratamiento; así como sobre los riesgos, contraindicaciones, precauciones y advertencias de las intervenciones, tratamientos y medicamentos que se prescriban y administren. Tiene derecho a recibir información de sus necesidades de atención y tratamiento al ser dado de alta.”

(“To receive, in understandable terms, complete, timely and ongoing information about their illness, including the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment alternatives, as well as the risks, contraindications, precautions and warnings of the interventions, treatments and medications prescribed and administered. They also have the right to be informed about their care and treatment needs upon discharge.”)

Two words make the difference: “en términos comprensibles” — in understandable terms. It’s not enough that the information was technically stated at some point in medical jargon; it has to be explained in a way you, as the patient, actually understand. And it isn’t limited to the diagnosis: it covers the prognosis, the treatment alternatives that exist (not just the one your doctor prefers), and the risks and contraindications of what’s being given to you.

Informed consent is not just a signature

The term “informed consent” gets used constantly, but few Peruvian statutes define it precisely. The Mental Health Law (Ley 30947) does, in Article 9, numeral 9.7, where it treats it as a right:

“que implica la aceptación libre, sin persuasión indebida y otorgada por una persona con problemas de salud mental, o por sus representantes, según sea el caso, después de habérsele proporcionado información precisa, suficiente y comprensible sobre el diagnóstico, tratamiento, medidas alternativas posibles y efectos secundarios y riesgos […]”

(“Informed consent… means free acceptance, without undue persuasion, given by a person with mental health conditions, or by their representatives as applicable, after having been provided precise, sufficient and understandable information about the diagnosis, treatment, possible alternative measures, and side effects and risks.”)

Although this definition sits in the mental-health-specific law, it describes the same logic Article 15.2.f requires for health care generally: consent is only valid if precise, understandable information came first. A signature obtained without having explained the diagnosis, the alternatives or the risks doesn’t meet what the law understands as informed consent — at best, it’s a signature with no legal substance behind it.

Your medical record: you can request a copy, and they must give it to you

A right few people exercise, partly because they don’t know it exists: requesting a full copy of your own medical record. The last paragraph of Article 29 is explicit:

“Los establecimientos de salud y los servicios médicos de apoyo quedan obligados a proporcionar copia, facilitar el acceso y entregar la información clínica contenida en la historia clínica manuscrita o electrónica que tienen bajo su custodia a su titular en caso de que éste o su representante legal la soliciten. El costo que irrogue este pedido es asumido por el interesado.”

(“Health facilities and supporting medical services are required to provide a copy, facilitate access to, and hand over the clinical information contained in the handwritten or electronic medical record they hold in custody, to its owner, whenever the owner or their legal representative requests it. The cost of this request is covered by the requesting party.”)

The clinic or hospital holds your medical record in custody, but that doesn’t give them the authority to deny you access. If you (or your legal representative) request it, they’re required to give it to you — either by handing over a copy or by facilitating direct access. The only thing the law allows them to charge for is the material cost of making the copy, not a fee for “authorizing” access.

You can also request a health status certification, with no explanation required

Another little-known right, and an even simpler one: Article 13 of Ley 26842 states, with no additional conditions:

“Toda persona tiene derecho a que se le extienda la certificación de su estado de salud cuando lo considere conveniente.”

(“Every person has the right to be issued a certification of their health status whenever they consider it convenient.”)

It doesn’t say “when you need it for a specific procedure” or “when the doctor authorizes it” — it says whenever you consider it convenient. It’s your own judgment that triggers this right, not the health entity’s.

The exception: when the law allows treating you without your consent

The general rule is that your prior consent is required before any treatment. The exception most cited in Peruvian case law is involuntary psychiatric admission during a mental health emergency. The precise rule is not in Ley 30947 itself but in its regulation, D.S. 007-2020-SA, Article 27.2:

“27.2. El internamiento constituye una alternativa ante una situación de emergencia psiquiátrica, que requiera de atención y cuidados integrales inmediatos a fin de evitar colocar la propia vida en peligro inminente, o que puede dejar secuelas invalidantes en la persona. Se realiza previo consentimiento informado otorgado por el(la) usuario(a), siendo la única excepción la imposibilidad para expresar la voluntad en un contexto de emergencia psiquiátrica.”

(Admission is an option in a psychiatric emergency that needs immediate care to avoid putting the person’s life in imminent danger or leaving disabling after-effects. It is done with the user’s prior informed consent; the only exception is being unable to express one’s will in a psychiatric emergency.)

The law itself limits mental health hospitalization in general. Article 27.1 of Ley 30947 says:

“La hospitalización es un recurso terapéutico de carácter excepcional, revisable periódicamente, y que solo puede llevarse a cabo cuando aporte mayores beneficios terapéuticos para la persona atendida que el resto de intervenciones posibles. Se realiza por el tiempo estrictamente necesario y en el establecimiento de salud más cercano al domicilio del usuario.”

(Hospitalization is an exceptional therapeutic measure, reviewed periodically, used only when it brings more therapeutic benefit to the patient than the other possible interventions; it lasts only as long as strictly necessary, in the health facility closest to the patient’s home.)

The statute requires three conditions together: it must be exceptional (not the first option), it must be periodically reviewable (not a decision made once and left in place indefinitely), and it must provide greater therapeutic benefit than the other possible interventions. What happens next (how long an admission order lasts, asking to leave, discharge) is covered in mental health hospitalization in Peru: consent, involuntary admission and discharge.

How to protect yourself in practice

• If you didn’t understand your doctor’s explanation, say so on the spot and ask them to repeat it more simply — it’s a right, not an imposition on health staff.
• Before signing any consent form, verify that you’ve already been given the diagnosis, the alternatives and the risks. Signing without that prior information doesn’t amount to informed consent.
• Keep a written record of your request for a copy of your medical record (date and facility), so you have proof if you later need to complain about a delay.
• If you’re denied the information, the copy of your medical record, or the health status certification, that can be grounds for a complaint to the entity itself and, if unresolved, a report (denuncia) to SUSALUD.
• If a relative is hospitalized in a mental health service, ask explicitly about the periodic review of the hospitalization: the law defines it as periodically reviewable, not open-ended.