Informed consent--a Nordic perspective

The basic principle in all the Nordic countries is that a competent adult has the right to refuse any medical act. The author was astonished, when going through recent Nordic legislation and literature, how often during the past few years the supervising bodies have emphasized the importance of respect for the patient's right to self-determination. Having been involved in these discussions in different fora for almost 20 years the author already presumed that informed consent was no longer a big issue in these countries. However, the fact that informed consent has been strongly emphasized during the past few years by all the Nordic national boards of health or equal bodies is a clear sign that the situation in the field is not as good as those who work on the 'ideological side' often wishfully think.