Muhammad Saaiq, Khaleequz Zaman.
Casual consent to treatment: a neglected issue in our health care system
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jul - Sep 2006;2(3):207-9.
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad

While internationally the medical community has effected a drift from the traditional concept of simple consent to the more sophisticated notion of informed consent, consent still continues to be a largely neglected component of our health care system. There is lack of recognition of the significance of consent to treatment and hence the consent process is taken as a casual formality both by our doctors as well as patients. Most of the time the doctors are forced by local cultural factors and social customs to compromise on the principles of consent taking. This compels them to take added responsibility and a great professional risk. There is a dire need to rectify this trend because an informed consent not only ensures the patient`s autonomy, self-determination and informed decision-making but is also a reaffirmation of the doctor`s ethical and legal responsibilities towards his patient. This article highlights the various conceptual and methodological processes involved in the consent with identification of the deficiency areas in our own health care system. This is a review article.

Category: General Topics
Keywords: Informed Consent. Methical Ethics.

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