Legal sanctity of consent for surgical procedures in India

As surgeons, we are morally committed to respecting the right of self-determination of patients, thus an informed consent is necessary before any operative intervention. Many neurosurgical patients are incapable of giving consent because of impaired consciousness. Moreover, neurosurgical procedures...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gauri Sharma, Vivek Tandon, P. Sarat Chandra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 2012-07-01
Series:Indian Journal of Neurosurgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/2277-9167.102281
Description
Summary:As surgeons, we are morally committed to respecting the right of self-determination of patients, thus an informed consent is necessary before any operative intervention. Many neurosurgical patients are incapable of giving consent because of impaired consciousness. Moreover, neurosurgical procedures involve high risks and often are time sensitive; therefore obtaining consent is a challenging job. Patients and their family members need immense courage, understanding, and trust before giving consent for a surgical procedure to a doctor. Lawsuits against doctors are on the rise and it is important to understand “what is consent?” in legal parlance.
ISSN:2277-954X
2277-9167