Biomaterial Database

Informed consent: ambiguity in theory and practice. 1983

W D White

The law of informed consent expresses in legal form the ethical principle of autonomy and respect for autonomy. It is intended to enhance self-determination and rational decision-making in medicine. Three tests might be made of whether a law is a good law: (1) Is it clear and unambiguous enough to admit of fair, equal, and consistent enforcement? (2) Does it gain compliance, and widespread ideological agreement? (3) Does it enjoy a measure of success in achieving its intended goals? The law of informed consent does not impressively pass any one of these tests. It is deeply ambiguous, both in its formal structure and its pragmatic implementation. It has not won ideological agreement, doctors having been openly hostile to it, and legislatures having written statutes limiting it. There is little evidence that it has succeeded in its goals. Paradoxically, its pragmatic value might be rooted in its ostensible weakness, its ambiguity, in that this very quality keeps the discussion going. Perhaps the essential problem lies in the fact that the philosophical notion of autonomy is not a phenomenologically accurate description of the condition of the person who seeks medical help--the map is not the territory.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007258	Informed Consent	Voluntary authorization, by a patient or research subject, with full comprehension of the risks involved, for diagnostic or investigative procedures, and for medical and surgical treatment.	Consent, Informed
D008318	Malpractice	Failure of a professional person, a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence or through criminal intent, especially when injury or loss follows. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Professional Negligence,Negligence,Negligence, Professional,Professional Negligences
D010684	Philosophy	A love or pursuit of wisdom. A search for the underlying causes and principles of reality. (Webster, 3d ed)	Hedonism,Stoicism,Pharmacy Philosophy,Philosophical Overview,Overview, Philosophical,Overviews, Philosophical,Pharmacy Philosophies,Philosophical Overviews,Philosophies,Philosophies, Pharmacy,Philosophy, Pharmacy
D010817	Physician-Patient Relations	The interactions between physician and patient.	Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D001291	Attitude of Health Personnel	Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.	Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D018570	Risk Assessment	The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)	Assessment, Risk,Benefit-Risk Assessment,Risk Analysis,Risk-Benefit Assessment,Health Risk Assessment,Risks and Benefits,Analysis, Risk,Assessment, Benefit-Risk,Assessment, Health Risk,Assessment, Risk-Benefit,Benefit Risk Assessment,Benefit-Risk Assessments,Benefits and Risks,Health Risk Assessments,Risk Analyses,Risk Assessment, Health,Risk Assessments,Risk Benefit Assessment,Risk-Benefit Assessments
D026684	Personal Autonomy	Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)	Autonomy, Personal,Free Will,Self Determination
D028701	Patient Rights	Fundamental claims of patients, as expressed in statutes, declarations, or generally accepted moral principles. (Bioethics Thesaurus) The term is used for discussions of patient rights as a group of many rights, as in a hospital's posting of a list of patient rights.	Right to Treatment,Patient's Rights,Patients' Rights,Patient Right,Patient's Right,Patients Rights,Patients' Right,Right to Treatments,Right, Patient,Right, Patient's,Right, Patients',Rights, Patient,Rights, Patient's,Rights, Patients',Treatment, Right to,Treatments, Right to
D030881	Disclosure	Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.	Financial Disclosure,Information Disclosure,Disclosure, Financial,Disclosure, Information,Disclosures, Financial,Financial Disclosures