President Ramaphosa’s recent announcement that no one will be forced to participate in the Covid-19 vaccination program has raised the question whether a patient can be subjected to medical treatment without the patient’s consent.

The standard rule that applies when medical treatment is administered is that a medical practitioner has no right to treat a patient unless the patient has provided informed consent for such treatment.

Should a medical practitioner, however, be so unwise as to start treatment without first obtaining the patient’s informed consent, he/she may very well, incur both civil and/or criminal liability for the violation of the patient’s bodily integrity or assault on the patient, whatever, the case may be.

However, our law does recognize situations where consent does not first have to be obtained before the medical intervention takes place. These exceptions to the standard rule are:

1.  In emergency situations where the patient is unable to consent.  A patient’s lack of consent may be due to the fact that the patient might be unconscious, in great shock, in a coma or his/her condition is life threatening. In these cases intervention by a medical practitioner may then be lawful, notwithstanding the fact that informed consent was not obtained.

Medical necessity might further dictate that in an emergency situation it might be regarded as lawful to administer medical treatment without informed consent provided that a clear emergency situation exists.

2.  Where the best interest of the patient dictates that a medical practitioner and/or hospital legally are entitled to treat the patient without his consent.

An example of the aforementioned exception is where a patient is capable of providing informed consent but refuses to consent to treatment and in so doing does not act in his or her best interest, for example where a patient needs an urgent blood transfusion but due to religious reasons refuses the blood transfusion. In this situation, a medical practitioner can approach the court to obtain an court order to administer the blood transfusion or medical treatment if it can be proven that it would be lifesaving and in the patient’s best interest.


In closing it is clear that medical negligence matters can be involved and should a client wish to investigate a possible medical negligence claim, it would be advisable for a client to first consult a legal expert in the field of medical negligence to guide the client through the legal process.

Should you require assistance in this specialized field of law, Lefevré Joubert can be contacted at 044 874 1140 or 083 447 1269 for assistance.