Informed Consent: a Myth of Ethical Spirit and Legal Paradigm in Medical Profession

Informed consent may not be major significance in medical malpractice litigations but, it is one of the critical issues in modern medicine. The development of informed consent has given rise to two major perceptions of ethical and legal foundations in health care system. The principle of informed consent is applicable to surgical operations, medical treatment and diagnostic procedures involving intentional interference with the patient. No doubt, medico-legal issues are more common in the western part of the world, the autonomy of the patient along with other principles of informed consent followed regularly in the west. In India lack of disclosure and negligence of not following seriously informed consent in health care is commonly seen. Institutional policies and procedures in obtaining medical consent may form a legal document but, may not necessarily achieve the goal of informed consent, patient or relatives for instance may sign documents, they do not understand. Medical professionals should consider the need to achieve informed consent in two symbiotic senses: the ethical sense and the legal sense.