Informed Consent without Autonomy

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Medical Law
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• The standard justification for informed consent in clinical medicine relies heavily on the principle of patient autonomy.
• This reliance has led to certain limitations and challenges in fully capturing the moral essence of the practice.
• An alternative perspective is needed to address these limitations and provide a more robust foundation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel moral foundation for informed consent in clinical medicine.
• To justify informed consent using "Hippocratic Consent" and respect for bodily integrity, distinct from patient autonomy.
• To compare this new approach with the traditional autonomy-based model.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of ethical principles in medicine.
• Philosophical argumentation.
• Distinguishing "Hippocratic Consent" and bodily integrity from patient autonomy.
• Comparative analysis of ethical frameworks.

Main Results:

• "Hippocratic Consent" and respect for bodily integrity provide a strong justification for informed consent.
• These principles, when clarified and distinguished from autonomy, explain key values in informed consent.
• The proposed approach offers advantages over the standard autonomy-based justification.

Conclusions:

• Informed consent in clinical medicine can be morally grounded in "Hippocratic Consent" and bodily integrity.
• Patient autonomy plays a limited, peripheral role rather than a central one in the core practice of informed consent.
• This reframing offers a more comprehensive understanding of the moral underpinnings of informed consent.