Historia de los derechos de los pacientes = History of the rights of patients

The global recognition of patient’s rights currently shows a reality no doubt; however, this achievement has been the fruit of a long and laborious historical process. This paper tries to describe the original relationship between physician and patient characterized by a marked paternalism, the reasons that caused the situation to continue in a surprising way to throughout history and the way in which occurred this transformation, essentially linked to the birth and global acceptance of human rights. But this achievement is not a determined end, but it must be tempered not only by the rights of others and society as a whole, but also for economic and social needs.