Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:959-962
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
Informed consent for neuroleptic therapy
J Deveaugh-Geiss
The author suggests that the frequency and severity of tardive dyskinesia
in patients treated with neuroleptic drugs requires that informed consent
be obtained from all patients receiving such treatment. The three basic
conditions for obtaining informed consent are reviewed with discussion of
some of the ethical problems encountered in the informed consent procedure.
Most of these problems will be resolved if specific, written, informed
consent is obtained from the patient, or his representative, within six
weeks of initiating therapy, although in some cases questions may be raised
about the very possibility of obtaining consent.
