[Informed consent in health legislation of Mexico]

This paper deals with informed consent in Mexican Health Legislation in the context of a contract regulated by the Mexican Civil Code, in which a patient capable of making a thoughtful decision agrees to a specific plan of medical management and has received sufficient information, in a clear and explicit manner so that he/she can make a decision and in consequence agrees, or does not agree, to a course of action and to its consequences, under the Nuremberg Code. In Mexico, informed consent has recently been incorporated into health care legislation, and is basically oriented toward the field of medical research, while in other medical procedures, a legal authorization, and not an informed consent form is required, as with surgical procedures such as definitive fertility control (e.g. vasectomy or fallopian tube ligation). We emphasize the necessity of the adding of informed consent to Mexican health legislation in general, substituting it for other terms to legalize medical action, such as authorization, permission, dispositioned compliance, acceptance or approval-all of which have an essentially different and limited connotation, and are not Patient's Rights legal protector mechanisms, from our point of view.