[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Medical ethics](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/) › Autonomy and consent

# Autonomy and consent

Informed consent, decision-making capacity, minors, emergencies, surrogate decisions and refusal of treatment.

12 pages

## Topic

- [**Consent in emergencies and the exceptions to consent** In a life-threatening emergency, with the patient unable to decide and no surrogate available…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/consent-in-emergencies-and-the-exceptions-to-consent/)
- [**Consent in minors: progressive autonomy in Colombian law** Parents authorise their children's treatment, but the minor's view weighs more the more mature…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/consent-in-minors-progressive-autonomy-in-colombian-law/)
- [**Placebos and deception in clinical practice** Giving a placebo while letting the patient believe it is an active treatment is deception](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/placebos-and-deception-in-clinical-practice/)
- [**Refusing treatment, including blood transfusion** A capable adult may refuse any treatment, even a life-saving one, and the doctor must respect…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/refusing-treatment-including-blood-transfusion/)
- [**Standards of disclosure: what must the patient be told?** Three standards decide how much to disclose; today what counts is what a reasonable patient, or…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/standards-of-disclosure-what-must-the-patient-be-told/)
- [**Suicide prevention and paternalism** Intervening when there is a risk of suicide is usually justified as soft paternalism: protecting…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/suicide-prevention-and-paternalism/)
- [**Surrogate decisions: substituted judgement and best interests** When a patient cannot decide, someone else decides by what the patient would have wanted or, if…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/surrogate-decisions-substituted-judgement-and-best-interests/)
- [**Theories of autonomy: individual, relational and family-centred** Autonomy does not always mean deciding alone: many people decide with their family or with…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/theories-of-autonomy-individual-relational-and-family-centred/)
- [**Understanding in consent: framing, false beliefs and how to check** Informing is not enough: the patient must understand](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/understanding-in-consent-framing-false-beliefs-and-how-to-check/)
- [**Voluntariness: coercion, persuasion and manipulation** A decision is voluntary if no one else controls it](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/voluntariness-coercion-persuasion-and-manipulation/)

## Procedure

- [**Decision-making capacity (competence) and how to assess it** Decision-making capacity is a person's ability to make one specific medical decision; the doctor…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/decision-making-capacity-and-how-to-assess-it/)
- [**Informed consent: elements and how to obtain it** Before a treatment, a patient with capacity gets clear information and freely decides whether to…](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/informed-consent-elements-and-how-to-obtain-it/)

## A to Z

- [A](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/a/)
- [B](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/b/)
- [C](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/c/)
- [D](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/d/)
- [E](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/e/)
- [F](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/f/)
- [G](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/g/)
- [H](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/h/)
- [I](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/i/)
- [J](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/j/)
- [K](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/k/)
- [L](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/l/)
- [M](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/m/)
- [N](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/n/)
- [O](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/o/)
- [P](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/p/)
- [Q](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/q/)
- [R](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/r/)
- [S](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/s/)
- [T](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/t/)
- [U](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/u/)
- [V](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/v/)
- [W](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/a-z/w/)

[← Medical ethics and health law](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/)

Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.

---
Source: https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/areas/autonomy/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/areas/autonomy/