Education and debate

A fundamental problem of consent

^a Clyde and Co, Solicitors, 51 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1JP

A consultant anaesthetist gave a diclofenac suppository for postoperative pain to a patient having four teeth extracted under general anaesthesia in the dental surgery. He did not seek the patient's specific consent preoperatively for use of the suppository but told her afterwards what he had done. Charged before the professional conduct committee of the General Medical Council with failure to obtain informed consent and assault, the anaesthetist was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and admonished. This decision has far reaching implications and has caused great concern.

Consent and a patient's right to self determination are at the root of many important problems in medical ethics. In recent years consent, or the lack of it, has also become an increasingly common issue in medical negligence litigation. By contrast, the failure by a doctor to obtain consent to bona fide treatment has rarely if ever been the sole . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

A fundamental problem of consent

S Morrell Lyons and David S Saunders
BMJ 1995 310: 935. [Extract] [Full Text]

Dentist is aggrieved at outcome

M M A Laljee
BMJ 1995 310: 935. [Extract] [Full Text]

Patients' trust must be respected

Graham Ness
BMJ 1995 310: 935. [Extract] [Full Text]

Patients' should be able to say no

Janet Menage
BMJ 1995 310: 935. [Extract] [Full Text]

GMC may not be entitled to conclude that assault occurred

J K Mason and R A McCall Smith
BMJ 1995 310: 936. [Extract] [Full Text]

Consent forms are unhelpful

I C M Paterson
BMJ 1995 310: 936. [Extract] [Full Text]

Chaperones are necessary for female patients

J N Horton
BMJ 1995 310: 936. [Extract] [Full Text]

GMC prefers "prudent patient" test

I F M Graham
BMJ 1995 310: 936. [Extract] [Full Text]

Fact sheets may be useful

Michael Rosen
BMJ 1995 310: 936-937. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rectogenital region is associated with strong cultural and sexual aesthetic beliefs

H A L Vyvyan
BMJ 1995 310: 937. [Extract] [Full Text]

Patients' views have been surveyed

P A Mallinder, S M Bonner, K M Lawler, C Sin Clair, and C Dodds
BMJ 1995 310: 937. [Extract] [Full Text]

Information on anaesthesia for caesarean section is tailored to the woman

Colm Lanigan and Felicity Reynolds
BMJ 1995 310: 937. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Maclean, A R (2002). Consent, sectionalisation and the concept of a medical procedure. J. Med. Ethics 28: 249-254 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Kendall, J. M, Reeves, B. C, Latter, V. S (2001). Multicentre randomised controlled trial of nasal diamorphine for analgesia in children and teenagers with clinical fractures. BMJ 322: 261-265 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Senn, S. (1997). Are placebo run ins justified?. BMJ 314: 1191-1191 [Full text]  
• Lyons, S M., Saunders, D. S (1995). A fundamental problem of consent. BMJ 310: 935-935 [Full text]  
• Mason, J K, Smith, R A M. (1995). GMC may not be entitled to conclude that assault occurred. BMJ 310: 936-936 [Full text]  
• Vyvyan, H A L (1995). Rectogenital region is associated with strong cultural and sexual aesthetic beliefs. BMJ 310: 937-937 [Full text]  
• Laljee, M M A (1995). Dentist is aggrieved at outcome. BMJ 310: 935a-935 [Full text]  
• Ness, G. (1995). Patients' trust must be respected. BMJ 310: 935b-935 [Full text]  
• Menage, J. (1995). Patients' should be able to say no. BMJ 310: 935c-935 [Full text]  
• Paterson, I C M (1995). Consent forms are unhelpful. BMJ 310: 936a-936 [Full text]  
• Horton, J N (1995). Chaperones are necessary for female patients. BMJ 310: 936b-936 [Full text]  
• Graham, I F M (1995). GMC prefers "prudent patient" test. BMJ 310: 936c-936 [Full text]  
• Rosen, M. (1995). Fact sheets may be useful. BMJ 310: 936d-937 [Full text]  
• Mallinder, P A, Bonner, S M, Lawler, K M, Clair, C S., Dodds, C (1995). Patients' views have been surveyed. BMJ 310: 937a-937 [Full text]  
• Lanigan, C., Reynolds, F. (1995). Information on anaesthesia for caesarean section is tailored to the woman. BMJ 310: 937b-937 [Full text]  
• Jones, M. A (1995). Commentary: The legal position. BMJ 310: 46-47 [Full text]  
• Lunn, J. N (1995). An anaesthetist's view. BMJ 310: 47-48 [Full text]