Consent, as we know, is the authorization or grant of permission by the patient for treatment or any diagnostic, surgical or therapeutic procedure to be carried out by the doctor. A doctor has to take consent from the patient before proceeding with his treatment. It is ethical and in today's scenario, a legal requirement. A valid consent has three components: Disclosure, Capacity and Voluntariness i.e. provision of relevant information by the doctor, the capacity of the patient to understand the information given and make a decision based on the adequate information without force or coercion.
This is informed consent. Any permission given under any unfair or undue pressure makes the consent invalid. The Honorable Supreme Court of India has defined adequate information. This includes nature and procedure of the treatment and its purpose, benefits, and effect alternatives if any available…
