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Medical ethics in informed consent

Edited by: Prof James Giordano and Dr Fernando Marques

Informed consent is a complex ethical concept that plays a fundamental role in medical research and practice, and which gives rise to host of current questions, issues and controversies. For example:

  • The increasing globalization of medicine adds new dimensions to informed consent procedures, as cultural and regional differences.
  • Implementation of new techniques and technologies that require careful ethical deliberation when informing patients, gaining their consent and obtaining clinical equipoise.
  • Similarly, treating patients who lack cognitive capacity to make fully informed decisions, and other conditions of marginalization and vulnerability necessitate a deeper and richer address, meaning and value of informed consent for patients, clinicians and society.

The Editors declare that they have no competing interests.

Collection published: 7 January 2014
Last updated: 18 November 2014

  2. The informed consent process is the legal embodiment of the fundamental right of the individual to make decisions affecting his or her health., and the patient’s permission is a crucial form of respect of free...

    Authors: Salvatore Pisu, Giovanni Caocci, Ernesto d’Aloja, Fabio Efficace, Adriana Vacca, Eugenia Piras, Maria Grazia Orofino, Carmen Addari, Michela Pintor, Roberto Demontis, Federica Demuru, Maria Rita Pittau, Gary S Collins and Giorgio La Nasa
    Citation: Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2014 9:13
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Informed consent in medical practice is essential and a global standard that should be sought at all the times doctors interact with patients. Its intensity would vary depending on the invasiveness and risks a...

    Authors: Joseph Ochieng, Charles Ibingira, William Buwembo, Ian Munabi, Haruna Kiryowa, David Kitara, Paul Bukuluki, Gabriel Nzarubara and Erisa Mwaka
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:40
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. Studies on informed consent to medical research conducted in low or middle-income settings have increased, including empirical investigations of consent to genetic research. We investigated voluntary participa...

    Authors: Patricia A Marshall, Clement A Adebamowo, Adebowale A Adeyemo, Temidayo O Ogundiran, Teri Strenski, Jie Zhou and Charles N Rotimi
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:38
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  5. Very few researchers have reported on procedures of recruiting, obtaining informed consent, and compensating participants in health research in the Arabian Gulf Region. Empirical research can inform the debate...

    Authors: Amal Killawi, Amal Khidir, Maha Elnashar, Huda Abdelrahim, Maya Hammoud, Heather Elliott, Michelle Thurston, Humna Asad, Abdul Latif Al-Khal and Michael D Fetters
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:9
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. Since Japan adopted the concept of informed consent from the West, its inappropriate acquisition from patients in the Japanese clinical setting has continued, due in part to cultural aspects. Here, we discuss ...

    Authors: Sakiko Masaki, Hiroko Ishimoto and Atsushi Asai
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:8
    Content type: Debate Published on:

  7. The current doctrine of informed consent for clinical care has been developed in cultures characterized by low-context communication and monitoring-style coping. There are scarce empirical data on patients’ no...

    Authors: Muhammad M Hammami, Yussuf Al-Jawarneh, Muhammad B Hammami and Mohammad Al Qadire
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:3
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. Although informed consent is an integral part of clinical practice, its current doctrine remains mostly a matter of law and mainstream ethics rather than empirical research. There are scarce empirical data on ...

    Authors: Muhammad M Hammami, Eman A Al-Gaai, Yussuf Al-Jawarneh, Hala Amer, Muhammad B Hammami, Abdullah Eissa and Mohammad Al Qadire
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2014 15:2
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. Efforts to improve patients’ understanding of their own medical treatments or research in which they are involved are progressing, especially with regard to informed consent procedures. We aimed to design a mu...

    Authors: Silvia Cervo, Jane Rovina, Renato Talamini, Tiziana Perin, Vincenzo Canzonieri, Paolo De Paoli and Agostino Steffan
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2013 14:30
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. Obtaining informed consent is a cornerstone of biomedical research, yet participants comprehension of presented information is often low. The most effective interventions to improve understanding rates have no...

    Authors: Adam Nishimura, Jantey Carey, Patricia J Erwin, Jon C Tilburt, M Hassan Murad and Jennifer B McCormick
    Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2013 14:28
    Content type: Research article Published on: