BMJ 1998;316:949-951 ( 28 March )

Editorials

Informed consent: edging forwards (and backwards)

Informed consent is an unavoidably complicated issue

News p 955 Education and debate pp 1000-11 Letters p 1022 Personal views pp 1026-7

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The issue of informed consent within medical practice, research, and publication is coming increasingly to the fore as the balance of power in the doctor-patient relationship tips towards patients. Last week Britain's General Medical Council heard a case in which a paediatric cardiologist was accused of going beyond the consent that he was given to treat a child. The child died, and he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and erased from the medical register for six months (p 955).¹ When, last year, we published a cluster of articles asking whether we should decline to publish studies where patients had not given fully informed consent we prompted a flood of correspondence. We received over 50 letters, most of them argued with unusual care and clarity. Authors split down the middle between those who argued that we should always insist on informed consent (except in very limited circumstances) and those who . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Newson, A. J, Sheather, J. (2008). Commentary: Consent and confidentiality in publishing--the view of the BMJ's ethics committee. BMJ 337: a1232-a1232 [Full text]  
• Oberklaid, F. (2008). Commentary: Consent to publication--no absolutes. BMJ 337: a1233-a1233 [Full text]  
• Delany, C (2008). Making a difference: incorporating theories of autonomy into models of informed consent. J. Med. Ethics 34: e3-e3 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Singer, P. A (2004). Consent to the publication of patient information. BMJ 329: 566-568 [Full text]  
• Rogers, W A, Draper, H (2003). Confidentiality and the ethics of medical ethics. J. Med. Ethics 29: 220-224 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Boter, H., van Delden, J. J M, de Haan, R. J, Rinkel, G. J E (2003). Modified informed consent procedure: consent to postponed information. BMJ 327: 284-285 [Full text]  
• Tonks, A., Smith, A. M., Smith, R. (2001). The BMJ 's ethics committee is open for business. BMJ 322: 1263-1264 [Full text]  
• Steiner, A., Walsh, B., Pickering, R. M, Wiles, R., Ward, J., Brooking, J. I, Torgerson, D. J (2001). Therapeutic nursing or unblocking beds? A randomised controlled trial of a post-acute intermediate care unit Commentary: Problems with randomised consent Authors' reply. BMJ 322: 453-460 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Strobl, J., Cave, E., Walley, T. (2000). Data protection legislation: interpretation and barriers to research. BMJ 321: 890-892 [Full text]  
• Boynton, P. M (1998). People should participate in, not be subjects of, research. BMJ 317: 1521a-1521 [Full text]  
• Baum, M., Kestin, I G, Josse, S E, Brewster, D. H, Bain, M. R S, Chalmers, J. W T, Gould, A., Dewar, J. A, George, W D., Nottingham, J., Winter, A. J, Mullis, D., Radcliffe, K. W, Wilcox, D T, Wilcock, F, Spitz, L, Pierro, A (1998). Informed consent. BMJ 317: 947a-947 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Confidentiality extends beyond the grave

Andy Winter
bmj.com, 30 Jul 1998 [Full text]

Editor's reply

Richard Smith
bmj.com, 29 Sep 1998 [Full text]

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