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Informed consent: don’t throw out the moral baby with the critical bath water

Correspondence to:
Professor L Doyal
Department of Medical Ethics, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1 2AD, UK; l.doyal@qmul.ac.uk

Keywords: patient consent; doctor-patient relationship; patients’ views; informed consent

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It is well over two decades since Ian Kennedy published "Unmasking Medicine" based on his Reith lectures.¹ He launched an inspired attack on medical paternalism in the UK which in many important respects has now been won—at least in principle. Clinical practice is now expected to embody the duty both to protect life and health and to respect individual autonomy—the right of competent patients to make informed choices about their medical options. Indeed, it is now both legally and professionally clear that, when these two duties are in conflict, the latter trumps the former. Ultimately, the competent adult patient has the final say about whether or not to accept or reject proposed treatment, even when refusing may mean death.

There is now a well articulated body of statute and case law designed to reinforce the right of patients to consent to or refuse treatment on the . . . [Full text of this article]

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