Informed consent in emergency care: illusion and reform

Abstract

Many patients seeking care in the modern emergency center are capable of participating in treatment decision making. In the traditional emergency center consent process, the patient or a surrogate is asked to sign a general consent form purporting to authorize any treatment the emergency physician deems necessary. We discuss the ethical and legal inadequacy of this procedure. In addition, we present the results of a questionnaire assessing the comprehension of emergency center patients who participated in the general consent process. We found that few patients understood the purpose of the consent form and that patients in general had little understanding of their decision making authority. In light of our analysis and findings, we offer suggestions for improving the emergency center consent process.