[Verbal and written enlightenment of the eye patients: special problems in Switzerland ].

In Switzerland, as in most other western European countries, the patient-physician relationship is based on the mandate relationship in private law. Its main provisions are laid down in the Swiss civil code, the law of obligations and the penal code. The physician is obliged at all costs to fulfill his responsibility to enlighten the patient. The authors discuss the extent and nature of this duty to provide information, in particular regarding the patient's right of access to medical and laboratory reports.