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Ethical Issues Regarding Informed Consent

Informed consent is more than just telling a patient what needs to be told to get him to sign a consent form; it is also more about making sure that the patient and the doctor are communicating effectively and that the patient understands as much as possible about what it is the medical staff wants to do and what the patient is supposed to know. These can be tricky waters to ford because the doctor or medical staff is working with the advantage of years of training to better understand what condition they are working with.

  1. What Should Be Disclosed to Obtain Informed Consent

    • Several factors must be disclosed by the medical staff to truthfully provide informed consent. The patient's diagnosis, the nature of the treatment, the risks of the treatment, any potential alternative treatments and what the risks and benefits of those alternative treatments are. Withholding any of this information can be viewed as an unethical approach to gaining consent and should not really be considered "informed consent."

    Allowing the Patient or Family Questions

    • While some doctors and medical professionals think merely delivering information is the extent to which they need to perform their duties, any consent they receive without allowing the patients or the patients' loved ones to ask questions and search for answers isn't really considered ethically obtained. Doctors must remember that their patients simply are not going to have the same understanding of the medical situation and to ethically obtain informed consent there needs to be an attempt to make sure the patients and families understand exactly what is going to happen.

    Language Barriers and Informed Consent

    • While it can be frustrating for doctors to navigate a difficult situation when their patient or the patient's family does not have a firm grasp of the doctor's language, it is not ethical to bypass the informed consent process. Interpreters may be necessary to ensure that all involved are on the same page.

    False Expectations

    • Patients will almost uniformly want to hear that a treatment is going to work or that a condition is not as bad as it seems. It is unethical to give these patients or their families an expectation that one treatment or another will absolutely work if there is even the slightest expectation that it might fail. Informed consent cannot be obtained if the information given is not accurate.

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