[Communication general practitioner/patient in the light of the patient' rights law]

The law relating to patients' rights, published in 2002 in Belgium, could change communication and even relations between general practitioners and their patients. This law stipulates, among other things, the information to be communicated to the patient, the rules for file sharing and litigation procedure. In the field, this law should be applied more by the spirit rather than the letter so as to preserve trust, the source of a real partnership. Moreover, one could be surprised by the fact that a law on patients' rights is not followed by rules also defining their duties.