INFORMED CONSENT 1980

The right of a patient, in most cases, to have the final authority to consent to a treatment, operation, or diagnostic procedure is guaranteed by 200 years of legal precedent. The right of that same patient to be adequately informed so that the decision is entirely his or her own seems to be equally well protected. It is unlikely that the medical profession can find a mechanical solution to the problem. That intangible patient-physician relationship must be developed to the point where there is a true interchange of the same information a physician would use to consent to undergo such a procedure or agree to it for a loved one. Finally, the physicians must decide, on the basis of their experience, the literature, personal attorney input, and other sources, the best method of documenting that moment when truly informed consent has been obtained.