Informed Consent and shared decision making in EBM

Abstract

‘Consent’ as it is understood in the medical context has to be asked from the patient and is the explicit agreement to waive a right to certain rules and norms which are normally expected in the treatment of other people and of ourselves as patients. Every surgical procedure would, without consent from the patient, be legally understood as assault and battery and the physician could be prosecuted for performing it. ‘Informed consent’ therefore in its most simple form means that the patient has received a good explanation about a medical procedure, understands what is happening to him or her and then can make an informed choice to accept or refuse, in the latter case the so called ‘informed refusal.