The ‘Global SOP on Patients Consent’ intends to be a comprehensive and legally compliant document on patients' consent. It will be the outcome of a unique, annual, collaborative exercise involving a large number of doctors, hospitals, and medical societies from all parts of the world. This SOP will be reviewed and updated annually as both law and medicine are dynamic and keep on changing

The objective of this unique endeavour is to provide a unified reference point for the global medical fraternity and the patients on issues relating to consent - a minimum common denominator or ‘gold standard’ that is in tune with the current, globally acceptable, legally correct, good clinical practices, while also being easily implementable and flexible across different jurisdictions.

A first of its kind in the world, it is initiated and facilitated by the Institute of Medicine & Law (IML)

Purpose

The purpose of this SOP is to provide relevant information and clear doubts and uncertainties on the various aspects of patient consent. This will obviously help to enhance patients’ safety, bring efficiency, consistency, reliability, and improve quality in healthcare delivery. It also intends to reduce miscommunication between healthcare providers and patients and medical errors. It could also be a valuable tool in resolving conflicts between patients and healthcare providers arising out of improper consent.

Ownership / IPR / Copyright

No person and / or organization, including IML, have or shall ever claim any IPR or copyright in the ‘Global SOP on Patients Consent’. It truly belongs to all those doctors and medical societies who have contributed by devoting their invaluable efforts, time, and energy to this exercise over the past many years. This SOP and the consent forms can be viewed, downloaded, printed, published, reproduced, or used in any form without any permission from any person or organization

Availability

Every edition of the Global SOP is and will be available free of cost on the website ‘www.global.patientsconsent.com’ for all times to come. It can be referred to in case of doubts, and if required, produced in legal proceedings also.

Conflict of Interest

This initiative is in no way influenced, sponsored, or financed, directly or indirectly, by any person, association, commercial organization, pharmaceutical company, and/or medical device manufacturer. All the expenses for conducting and facilitating this exercise are borne by IML for the benefit of the society.