The informed consent

The informed consent, in which the physician informs about procedures to be performed and requests approval, puts into practice the communication between physicians and patients. The consent will always be verbal and will only put writing in complex or risky situations. This doctrine, that promotes the recognition of patients autonomy, is employed since the end of World War II. Its main features are mental competence to know and elect, adequate and comprehensible information and voluntary acceptance or denial. In the situations of requested paternalism, therapeutic privilege and placebo use, information is not given and the consent is not requested. In all research protocols, a written informed consent must be requested. The consent is a form of communication that tries to defend patients rights as something close and alive, and should not become a ritual.