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Valid Consent (valid + consent)
Selected AbstractsThe impact on histopathology practice of new human tissue legislation in the UKHISTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2006J C E Underwood The undisclosed or unauthorized retention of tissue from autopsies in the UK and elsewhere has caused considerable public concern and much distress to some families. Histopathologists involved in these cases have also been discomfited. These events have exposed deficiencies in prevailing legislation, principally in the Human Tissue Act 1961 and the Coroners Rules 1984. New human tissue legislation comes into force in the UK in September 2006. The Human Tissue Act 2004 and the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 make it unlawful to remove, store and use tissue from the dead without appropriate authority. The Human Tissue Act 2004, which does not apply in Scotland, also prohibits the removal, storage and use of tissue from living individuals for purposes specified in the Act unless appropriate consent has been obtained. The Coroners (Amendment) Rules 2005, which came into force in June 2005, introduced new arrangements for dealing with the retention of tissue from bodies undergoing coroner's autopsies. This new legislative regime is intended to create a climate in which pathologists, patients and the public can have confidence that tissue is used appropriately and, when necessary, with proper authority or valid consent. However, other than in Scotland, there may be unintended consequences arising from restrictions on archiving, for audit and diagnostic review, tissue samples from coronial autopsies. [source] A Puzzle about Consent in Research and in PracticeJOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2010ERIC CHWANG abstract In this paper, I will examine a puzzling discrepancy between the way clinicians are allowed to treat their patients and the way researchers are allowed to treat their subjects: in certain cases, researchers are legally required to disclose quite a bit more information when obtaining consent from prospective subjects than clinicians are when obtaining consent from prospective patients. I will argue that the proper resolution of this puzzling discrepancy must appeal to a pragmatic criterion of disclosure for informed consent: that what needs to be disclosed in order for consent to be valid depends on what the patient/subject needs to know in order to make a decision. I will then use this pragmatic criterion of disclosure to argue that when obtaining consent researchers should be permitted to omit the same information clinicians are, given certain qualifications. I will also examine how this puzzle forces us to confront some perhaps surprising truths about valid consent. My broader aim in this paper is to examine, not so much the puzzle itself, but rather what this particular puzzle can teach us about more theoretical issues surrounding informed consent. [source] The challenges for nurses communicating with and gaining valid consent from adults with intellectual disabilities within the accident and emergency care serviceJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 9 2007Margaret Sowney MSc Aim., This paper reports the challenges experienced by nurses within accident and emergency departments in communicating with and gaining valid consent from adults with intellectual disabilities. Background., Consent is both a legal requirement and an ethical principle required to be obtained by health-care professionals, prior to the start of any examination, treatment and/or care. Central to the process of seeking consent is effective communication. However, evidence shows that people with intellectual disabilities are not viewed by professionals within acute general hospitals as a vital source of information, neither are they often communicated with directly, nor involved in discussions or decisions about their health care and are frequently not directly asked for their consent. Method., A purposive sample of nurses working within the accident and emergency departments of five general hospitals was recruited to participate in this qualitative study. Data were collected from five focus groups. Findings., Effective communication was identified as the most challenging aspect in caring for adults with intellectual disabilities within this environment, having an impact on the assessment of needs, informing patients of their health status and seeking valid consent. Conclusions., Fundamental to the provision of quality care are the concepts communication, choice and control. However, these issues are perceived to be more challenging in the provision of health care to people with intellectual disabilities. Communication and consent, therefore, require further consideration within the educational and clinical areas to strengthen nurses' competence in caring for people with intellectual disabilities, with an emphasis and understanding that choice and control are key principles for all people, being central aspects to the provision of an inclusive service for people with intellectual disabilities. Relevance to clinical practice., All nurses need to have a greater awareness of learning disability, how to increase opportunities for effective communication and be very familiar with the issue and guidelines relating to consent, to ensure that people with learning disabilities have choice, control and are more active in decision making regarding their health. [source] How important is consent in maternal serum screening for Down syndrome in France?PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 3 2007Information, consent evaluation in maternal serum screening for Down syndrome: a French study Abstract Objectives To evaluate the level of information and informed consent for maternal serum screening (MSS) for Down syndrome (DS) in the second trimester of pregnancy and analyse the exercise of autonomy towards the test by the women concerned. Methods We studied the population of pregnant women attending obstetric consultations in two French hospitals over a 3-month period. The women were assigned to three groups according to MSS results for DS: women at high risk of having a child with DS (group 1), women at low risk (group 2) and women who did not undergo the test (group 3). A questionnaire was completed before the medical consultation, to assess the quality of consent before amniocentesis for the group at high risk and before the second-trimester ultrasound scan for the other two groups. Results We analysed 305 questionnaires for 89, 137 and 79 women belonging to groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. In total, 123 women (40.3% [IC 95%, 35,46%]) were considered to be well informed; 33 (10%, [IC 95%, 8,12%]) had a high level of knowledge, but made choices not consistent with their stated attitude, and 149 (49.7% [IC 95%, 45,56%]) were considered uninformed. Logistic regression analysis showed that maternal consent depended on three independent components: The score attributed to the doctor for information about MSS (t = 4.216, p < 0.001). Whether the patient belonged to group 1 (t = ,2.631, p < 0.009). Educational level (< high-school diploma, high-school diploma or at least two years of higher education after high school) (t = 2.324, p < 0.02). The rate of consent increased with educational level and was highest for the women in group 1 and for those whose doctor had a high information score. Conclusions Our findings clearly show that women are provided with insufficient information concerning MSS screening for DS in the second trimester of pregnancy for real and valid consent to be obtained. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] |