Peter Schwartz, MD, PhD, Director of the IUCB, and Colin Halverson, PhD, Faculty Investigator at the IUCB, published an article titled “Informed Consent and Comprehension after the Pragmatic Turn” in the American Journal of Bioethics. In the article, they challenge traditional understandings of informed consent that focus only on a patient’s or participant’s ability to understand the information being provided. They argue this limited notion of informed consent misses the importance of the pragmatic nature of informed consent.
Pulling from their own separate research projects, they argue that the pragmatics of consent are important to consider as they provide a more accurate understanding of informed consent. Trust, relationship dynamics, and communication can play a key role in consent even if content knowledge is not improved for the patient or participant. They advocate for a more comprehensive understanding of the role of informed consent.
Read the article here.