New regulations in Poland: The Patient Ombudsman will fight against pseudomedicine
The Polish government has adopted a draft of new regulations aimed at protecting the health of citizens. The changes grant the Patient Ombudsman greater powers to combat medical misinformation and dangerous treatment methods that lack scientific evidence.
Currently, many offers for so-called "miracle therapies" appear on the internet and social media. They are often promoted by individuals without appropriate medical education. The new law is intended to allow officials to react more quickly in situations where the health or lives of patients are threatened by unverified methods.
According to the draft, the Patient Ombudsman will be able to monitor the medical services market more effectively. The institution will receive tools to issue decisions to cease practices that mislead patients. This is intended to limit the influence of individuals promoting harmful health advice.
Experts emphasize that the changes are necessary to increase trust in official medicine. Many people seeking help for an illness can be easy targets for scammers. Thanks to the new regulations, the state will be better able to control health-related content and more quickly remove dangerous information from the public sphere.
The draft bill will now move on to further work in parliament. If adopted, the new regulations will come into force in the near future, which will be an important step toward improving patient safety in Poland.