Abstract

MARTINEZ GARCIA, Geovedy  and  RODRIGUEZ PEREZ, Norma Lourdes. Ethical and legal implications of invasive procedures in cardiology. Rev Cub Med Mil [online]. 2012, vol.41, n.3, pp.302-316. ISSN 0138-6557.

Doctor-patient relationships have changed in the past 30 years. This has been due, among other factors, to the introduction of new forms of health care and in particular to the application of technological advances. In the field of cardiology, several invasive diagnostic procedures and treatments pose a risk to the life of patients. Therefore, in compliance with ethical and legal principles, adequate information and the application of informed consent are crucial. In Cuba some vestiges of medical paternalism have lived on till our days. As a result, informed consent, which is a lot more than a document attached to the medical record before the performance of an invasive study, is not systematically applied in health care institutions. The present paper is a review of the ethical and legal aspects of informed consent as a process with mainly ethical, but also legal implications. A representative document is proposed for the application of informed consent in the country's cardiology services.

Keywords : informed consent; bioethics; invasive procedures; cardiology; autonomy.

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