Consent: Doctor, can you please do my operation?

Abstract

The evolution of informed consent Globally, despite extensive written guidance, landmark legal cases, and evolving clinical practices, the landscape of informed consent remains uncertain for both patients 1 and doctors. 2 The notion of informed consent was thrust upon medicine by the law, rather than originating as a 'medical philosophy' , 3 or being independently adopted by virtue of the increased recognition of ethical principles within medicine.Key time-honoured works from which ethical perspectives within medicine were derived, such as those from Hippocrates and Percival, did not visit the notion of informed consent in a meaningful way, 4 despite an underlying appreciation of the "voluntary […] relationship between physicians and patients". 5edical ethics was initially focused upon nondisclosure rather than truthful disclosure, and the so-called Hippocratic ethic did not apportion sufcient weight to the patient's agenda. 6The World Med ical Association's Declaration of Geneva in 1948, despite demonstrating a shift towards patient-centredness, gave little specifc mention of the concept of informed consent or the underlying ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy.Autonomy in the setting of obtaining consent for a medical intervention refers to the acknowledgement that patients have "a right to hold views, make choices, and to take actions based upon their values and beliefs".