Universal consent form might help

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1203-d

BMJ 2004;328:1203 (15 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1203-d

Letter

Universal consent form might help

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

EDITOR—I wrote the "universal consent form" below a fewyears ago, but it now seems germane in view of the editorialby Furness and Sullivan on the new human tissue bill.¹

"By signing this I agree that my doctor is a reasonable person,applying common sense and trying to do his or her best in circumstancesfor which society takes collective responsibility. My doctorwill attempt to do the best possible, but I accept that nobodyis perfect and human beings are only human. In particular, anyeffective treatment is not without side effects and all testsare fallible; in an attempt to reduce risks to a minimum, Iunderstand drugs and procedures may have been tested on animalsfirst. I accept that my doctor may not mention every possibleside effect or complication because life is too short and heor she understandably wishes not to worry . . . [Full text of this article]