HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Messer, N G Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Messer, N G

Professional-patient relationships and informed consent

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Neil Messer
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED, UK; n.messer{at}lamp.ac.uk

ABSTRACT
Four theoretical ethical perspectives on professional-patient relationships—autonomy, justice, virtue ethics, and the ethic of care—are surveyed, and some of their implications for the informed consent requirement in health care are sketched out. The practical issues of competence to consent, adequate information, and voluntariness are reviewed, and examples are given of the ways in which the theoretical perspectives outlined earlier might inform practice in areas such as these. Finally, the situation of patients not competent to consent is considered in the light of the same theoretical perspectives.

Keywords: informed consent; consent; ethics of care; professional-patient relationships