Informed consent

Informed consent is the requirement that a person understands what taking part in research involves, what is uncertain about it, and that they may decline or withdraw at any point without affecting their ordinary care. It is a continuing process rather than a signature, and it is one of the safeguards that exists because the history of medical research includes studies that should never have been run.

We cover how consent works in practice and where it is hardest: emergency research, participants who cannot consent for themselves, and studies run across very different regulatory and linguistic settings.