Potential Barriers to Informed Consent‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Every health care provider and every researcher knows that securing informed consent from patients and potential study participants is a critical requirement before treatment or research activities may commence. The three necessary elements for informed consent are: facts about the nature and risks of the proposed therapy or trial; the capacity to process and understand the information; and the freedom from coercion to make a reasoned choice. Although these criteria are well known, there are potential barriers to these three elements that may interfere with successful achievement of truly informed consent. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the barriers that may impede the exercise of informed consent. The discussion will begin with a review of the concept and history of informed consent and conclude with an analysis of the potential barriers to informed consent.