Book excerpt: George Annas, America's leading proponent of patient rights, spells them out for you in this revised, up-to-date edition of his groundbreaking classic. Thorough, comprehensive, and easy to follow-using a question-and-answer format in much of the text-The Rights of Patients explores all aspects of becoming an informed patient: • hospital organization • hospital rules • emergency treatment • admission and discharge • the patient rights movement • informed consent • surgery • obstetrical care • human experimentation and research • privacy and confidentiality • care of the dying • death, autopsy, and organ donation • medical malpractice.