BMJ  2004;329 (10 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7457.0-e

Informed consent could sometimes be postponed

When informed consent would let participants know what intervention they are receiving, patients may accept receiving information after the trial is over. Boter and colleagues (p 86) evaluated a modified consent procedure in which full disclosure was delayed until after data collection. The delay did not reduce the recruitment of patients, their trust in doctors, or willingness to take part in future studies. A modified procedure should be considered when the additional treatment entails no risk, and when this treatment seems attractive to patients, they say. In a commentary (p 87), Dawson says that no ethical principle should be absolute; a requirement for full informed consent may prevent beneficial studies from being done. Informing participants in advance that some information may be withheld may increase their anxiety, and to say nothing may be preferable.

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