PHIL 2390H Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Jay Katz, Informed Consent, Status Quo
26 Jun 2018
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Module 2
What is Informed Consent?
-Voluntary consent to a treatment made by a competent patient or a
surrogate/representative who is adequately informed of all relevant information
pertaining to the treatment and its alternatives.
- Is this definition helpful?
- What are the challenges with this definition?
Faden and Beauchamp:
-Sense 1: Autonomous Authorization
oRequires…
Substantial understanding (of what exactly is the issue there)
In substantial absence of control by others (you are not coerced or forced
or manipulated, make the choice freely, doesn’t mean you cant take into
consideration the opinion of others)
Intentionality (it can’t be something that you do without realizing you are
consenting)
Authorizes a professional (authorize a doctor or a nurse to act in such a
way that we have outlined for them)
-Sense 2: Effective Consent (consent forms we sign)
oPolicy oriented (legal kind of consent, maybe you must be 18 yrs…)
oLegal or institutionally effective authorization
oObtained by using a particular set of accepted procedures
What is the relationship between these 2 senses?
- Effective authorization without autonomous authorization (you can sign the dotted line
of the consent form without really understanding what you are signing)
- Autonomous authorization without effective authorization (allowing a medical
procedure to be done without being of legal age to sign the consent form- the sister
example)
- Important to balance the need for consent in the first sense with what is fair and
reasonable to expect of HCPs.
Understanding Transparency in Informed Consent
Brody: Assumptions
- Informed consent is only one important part of the practice of good medicine
- Many doctors believe that informed consent is effective consent (signing of papers)
- Status quo:
oView of physicians ‘bureaucratic legalism’
oAlternative treatments are downplayed
o“understanding patients desire to be informed and overestimate their desire to
be involved in the decision”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Voluntary consent to a treatment made by a competent patient or a surrogate/representative who is adequately informed of all relevant information pertaining to the treatment and its alternatives. Substantial understanding (of what exactly is the issue there) In substantial absence of control by others (you are not coerced or forced or manipulated, make the choice freely, doesn"t mean you cant take into consideration the opinion of others) Intentionality (it can"t be something that you do without realizing you are consenting) Authorizes a professional (authorize a doctor or a nurse to act in such a way that we have outlined for them) Sense 2: effective consent (consent forms we sign: policy oriented (legal kind of consent, maybe you must be 18 yrs , legal or institutionally effective authorization, obtained by using a particular set of accepted procedures. Effective authorization without autonomous authorization (you can sign the dotted line of the consent form without really understanding what you are signing)
