1Assistant Professor Netaji Subhash Chander Bose Medical College, Jabalpur
2Associate Professor Netaji Subhash Chander Bose Medical College, Jabalpur
3Assistant Professor Netaji Subhash Chander Bose Medical College, Jabalpur
*Email: drnid2012@gmail.com
Introduction: The circle of legal development in the area (i.e., consent) appears to be almost complete when the apex court in India recently ruled that, it is not just the ‘consent’ or ‘informed consent’ (as it is known worldwide) but it shall also be ‘prior informed consent’ generally barring some specific cases of emergency. Doctors are increasingly being criticized for imposing treatment without adequate consent.
Objective: The: present study was conducted to know the level of awareness, knowledge and actual practice pattern of the informed consent among all age groups of practicing doctors (Both clinical and Non-clinical branches).
MaterialandMethod: The questionnaire was designed which comprised of around 19 questions, to test the knowledge of how, when and in what form the consent has to be taken, attitude of the physician, when they are taking the consent and to know the actual practice pattern which is being practiced.
Result: In the present study it was found that doctors of age more than 35 years, only 73.3% knew about the difference between consent and informed consent. In Doctors of less than 35 years of age, 92.9% knew the difference.In the present study it was found none of the senior doctors have faced any litigation as compared to the junior doctors. This shows that the risk of practioners facing litigation is increasing day by day.
Conclusion: There is a continuous need of up gradation of Medico legal knowledge in the form of CMEs, workshops, Medico-legal lectures in other platforms like specialized conferences etc.
Informed Consent, Awareness, Medico-legal
