We read the article "Informed Consent in Pediatric Practice" in a recent
issue with interest, and to get legal insight [1]. The article mentions
that "The process of informed consent in pediatric patients is not well
understood". If authors say in the abstract that they have not understood
process of "informed consent in pediatric practice" then whatever is
written in article is of no value to reader. It is a contradictory
statement made with respect to the title.
Pediatric emergencies are common and form a large
section of patients in nursing home/hospital or institutional practice.
The authors are silent about informed consent in emergency situations in
pediatrics. They have also not touched upon an integral part of informed
consent i.e. patient confidentiality, and finished the review on informed
consent. Authors have also stated that a ‘general consent’ for treatment
is obtained for physical examination, basic investigations and
prescription of standard medications. We are sure there is no need to
obtain such a general consent under any Indian law since it is covered
under implied consent. The authors have also missed the rich resource
enlightening the process and nature of informed consent in decided Indian
case laws.
Mahesh S Baldwa and Namita M Baldwa,
Baldwa Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Email: [email protected]
Reference
1. Kaushik JS, Narang M, Agawal N. Informed consent
in pediatric practice. Indian Pediatr. 2010;47:1039-46.