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DOI: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijfmp.0974.3383.11118.7

Abstract

Consent is an ethical principle. Medical treatment can only be administered with consent of a competent patient. Giving the treatment without consent is failure to respect patient’s autonomy; violating an individual’s right to self-determination. Any medical treatment given without consent is an action for trespass where damages are payable. The core idea of autonomy is one’s action and decisions are one’s own. Therefore every patient has the right to know what happens to his body. It is the moral and legal duty of a physician to inform the patient about all the aspects of his illness and help him by advising so that he is able to make a logical and intelligent decision about his treatment. Examining or treating a patient without his consent amounts to battery and assault and may invite legal liabilities for a physician.

Keywords: Consent; Clinical Practice; Medico-Legal. 

Corresponding Author : Nishat Ahmed Sheikh, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Jaipur National University, Institute for Medical Sciences and Research Center, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302017, India.