PHLB09H3 Chapter 5: Chapter-5-Informed-Consent-PHLB09
Document Summary
Informed consent: the action of an autonomous, informed person agreeing to submit to medical treatment or experimentation: patients should have the final say in what is done to them, they should have voluntary, informed agreement. This concept is a legal requirement for practitioners to tell patients the truth about certain treatments and obtain their permission before they are carried out. The importance of informed consent is supported by the principles of autonomy and beneficence. Autonomy: (respecting) a person"s capacity for self-determination: this in and of itself reject strong medical paternalism where physicians decide the best course of action for the patient without the patient. Beneficence: do no harm (non-maleficence: ultimate goal = promote patient well fare (this aligns with autonomy too) Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body : at this time, simple consent was the only standard that needed to be met.
