Informed consent is a means of applying the principle of information and patient autonomy

Abstract

The will of a patient to undergo a medical procedure is embodied with his signature in a document, the consent, this went from being a document enunciating medical procedures to contemplating in its structure the pro-patient principles; Since a lawsuit for damages was filed against a doctor for lack of information, the legal fact that the patient must know what the doctor is proposing to do was contemplated, this change turned the paradigm that the patient is a mere conduit of what to do with the doctor, producing the transition from the paternalistic system, to the autonomous one and then to the interpretive-deliberative one. Then informed consent must reflect two basic principles in the practice of medicine: autonomy and information to the patient, being the doctor a guide for the patient regarding their health problems, seeking their recovery, and valuing their wishes, the patient is subject to respect for their ethical, religious or moral values, knowing the benefits of the procedures and the probable complications. The importance of informed consent in medical practice is not only focused on the doctor-patient relationship, it is also a document of a legal medical nature, analyzed in legal proceedings against doctors, health personnel, or health institutions to verify the guarantees that it has had. the patient to be informed and his decision has been respected.