Informed Consent

Informed consent is a legal and ethical condition of voluntary agreement based on adequate knowledge and understanding of relevant facts, implications, and consequences when participating in research or undergoing a diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventive measure. Subjects must be in possession of all their faculties without impairment of judgment at the time of consenting. Furthermore, subjects may not waive or appear to waive any of their legal rights or release or appear to release the investigator, the sponsor, the institution, or agents thereof from liability for negligence.

Although the legal concept of informed consent is most commonly associated with medical procedures and research studies, it also has ethical relevance in the broader context of business, particularly in protecting employees from potential privacy violations by employers. Certain legal ...