著者

浜町 久美子

出版者

日本医学哲学・倫理学会

雑誌

医学哲学 医学倫理 (ISSN:02896427)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.23, pp.11-21, 2005-10-26 (Released:2018-02-01)

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According to Faden and Beauchamp, informed consent is a process of communication between a patient and a physician that results in the patient's authorization to undergo a specific medical intervention. The Japanese Medical Association, however, defines informed consent as "explanation by physicians and agreement by patients". Using the JMA definition, informed consent has been practiced by many physicians and patients in Japan. Not all patients, however, are satisfied with this method of decision making. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how this communication should be undertaken among stakeholders concerned with medical decision making. In the first part of this paper, two methods of communication are analyzed, one based on the JMA interpretation and the other based on Faden and Beauchamp. In the former, communication consists of a physician's explanation and the patient's consent. In the latter, communication is undertaken through the physician's recommendations and presentation of reasons why the patient should take the physician's advice, the physician's understanding of the patient's concerns and interests, the physician's explanations, and the patient's consent. In the second part of the paper, these two methods of communication are compared with actual cases of informed consent in health care. The paper then demonstrates that the two methods of communication are insufficient in the case of opposing opinions among stakeholders or when stakeholders have no understanding of each others' interests. The paper concludes that it is necessary for communication in health care to take place in two steps. The first involves uncovering the stakeholders' interests. The second involves determining the best solution based on those interests. It is a so-called consensus building process that incorporates these two important communication steps.