Informed consent or patients’ right to participate in decision making

Abstract:

The patients’ right to consent to a particular diagnostic or therapeutic intervention after being informed by physician about the procedure is receiving increased attention as one of the key instruments in promoting patients’ rights. It is called “informed consent“ or, as stated in the Croatian Act on the Protection of Patients’ Rights, the patient’s right to participate in decision making. Informed consent consists of the patient’s right to be informed and the right to accept or reject a particular procedure. Previous research has shown that this right is not consistently exercised in practice and that physicians are still not sufficiently educated about the informed consent procedure. Therefore, any steps taken toward improving the situation are welcome, such as the introduction of the “Legislation and medical ethics“ postgraduate course within a specialist training in family medicine. 

Key words:
education, medical, graduate; informed consent; legislation, medical; patients