[The content and limits of consent to a medical procedure]

The bases of legality for any medical-surgical activity aimed at a therapeutical-diagnostic purpose is the consent of the patient. Such a consent must comply with some requirements of validity, first of all the owner of this right must be able to realize the significance of the assertion of his will. Besides, the awareness of the consent assumes that the surgeon should make a complete and detailed planning of the operation, with a clear reference to any possible hazard, as well as to any possible after-effects, as far as either the intellectual level or the motivity of the patient are concerned. After having examined the various laws covering, the legal, doctrinal and jurisprudential views, authors defines the aspects of the therapeutical treatment. The differences between a free decision and a true informed consent are outlined as well as the extension and the expression of same. It is particularly analysed the relationship between capacity and competence to get the juridical right. The question of understanding which is the best way to respect individual freedom, often reduced to a virtual level form a pathological restriction of individual autonomy, is still open. Moreover, the consent may really be effective only if it is specific, the is aimed at a well definite and accurate therapeutical act. Authors agrees with the criminalist interpretation that the medical surgical activity, out of consent of the patient, can give form to personal voluntary injury. In case of medical surgical treatment different from that previously agreed and out of a situation of therapeutic flagrant necessity, the authors are of the opinion that the inquiry has to concern the medical behaviour in order to estimate the medical surgical treatment as personal voluntary injury or as personal negligent injury. Some reasoned evaluations on the problem were considered at the end of the article.