The legal aspect of informed consent in surgery

The issue of informed consent has become of main importance as the doctor/ patient relationship transformed from paternalistic to cooperative. The conservatively uneven sociological relationship between the doctor and his patient is now considered obsolete as it has become a joint effort combining both parties. The fact that there is no other contract in Civil Law that has as a subject the life, health and well-being of a person, gives the contract for medical treatment a humane character and not the typicality of a contract of Civil Law justifying the emphasis on informed consent. Both the doctor and the patient linked together by mutual trust must participate, cooperate and decide the course of the treatment. In this context, informed consent is crucial to reassure patient’s autonomy and self-conscious decision making for any treatment and more importantly before deciding to undergo surgery. When it comes to informed in surgery the same rules as in general apply with the specialization of certain points because of the severity of this situation.