The patient’s health and well-being depend on a patient - doctor relationship based on mutual respect and work. Patients can contribute to this relation when they carry out their responsibilities and are honest about their condition when seeking help with their health condition. On the other hand, doctors can contribute to mutual respect and strengthening of this relationship by serving as their patients' supporter and by respecting patients' rights. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the issue of patients' rights. Primarily, the definitions of patients' rights and the legal framework within the national regulations were set. This issue in the Republic of Croatia is regulated by the Act on the Protection of Patients' Rights. Furthermore, the paper presents and expands the context of patients' rights, which includes a historical review and the fundamental sources from which the development of patients' rights as we recognize them today took place. The situation regarding available legislation and the application of patients' rights at the international level is also analyzed. The complexity of patients' rights, and especially their application, is demonstrated through a discussion of specific problems within this area. Real cases are also presented with the aim of connecting the presented theories and laws with examples from everyday practice. Awareness of patients' rights is developing rapidly. This growing interest is partly due to the development of medical science and technology, and partly to the development of human rights. They primarily include the right to self-determination, dignity, and equality. These basic requirements, as well as all those arising from them, develop in parallel with all the changes that occur in medicine and society in general. The growing challenges of the field of patients' rights provide an incentive for all those involved in the process of their implementation, including patients, the medical and legal professions, to contribute to their improvement.