Many patients may not understand consent forms

Improving readability of consent forms: what the computers may not tell you.

Desperation May Affect Autonomy but Not Informed Consent

Dunn and colleagues (2011) provide an interesting analysis of the ethical issues involved in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for peoplewith treatment-resistant depression (TRD). I agree with the conclusions the authors draw regarding TRD patients’ capacity to consent but would like to take up the authors’ call for greater examination of theway inwhich desperation may affect patients’ decision maki...

Why consent may not be needed for organ procurement.

Most people think it is wrong to take organs from the dead if the potential donors had previously expressed a wish not to donate. Yet people respond differently to a thought experiment that seems analogous in terms of moral relevance to taking organs without consent. We argue that our reaction to the thought experiment is most representative of our deepest moral convictions. We realize not ever...

Normative consent is not consent.

The UK has an opt-in system of consent for postmortem organ donation. More specifically, the Human Tissue Act 2004 prohibits the removal, storage, and use of organs postmortem for a range of ‘‘scheduled purposes’’—which include transplantation—unless ‘‘appropriate consent’’ has been given. Appropriate consent can be given by the donor premortem by signing and carrying a donor card, or by opting...

Many growth factors may not be growth factors.

Both organ growth and tumor growth are dependent upon a biased ratio of cell births to cell deaths; this ratio is independent of the frequency of mitosis. Thus, so-called growth factors that affect only the frequency of mitosis are not really growth factors. I shall advance two hypotheses: that the normal adult ratio of cell births to cell deaths is maintained by the activity of a factor or fac...