Editing Informed consent (section)

== Medical sociology ==
[[Medical sociology|Medical sociologists]] have studied informed consent as well [[Bioethics#Medical sociology|bioethics]] more generally. Oonagh Corrigan, looking at informed consent for research in patients, argues that much of the conceptualization of informed consent comes from research ethics and bioethics with a focus on patient autonomy, and notes that this aligns with a neoliberal worldview.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Corrigan|first=Oonagh|date=November 2003|title=Empty ethics: the problem with informed consent|journal=Sociology of Health and Illness|language=en|volume=25|issue=7|pages=768–792|doi=10.1046/j.1467-9566.2003.00369.x|pmid=19780205|issn=0141-9889|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{Rp|770}} Corrigan argues that a model based solely around individual decision making does not accurately describe the reality of consent because of social processes: a view that has started to be acknowledged in bioethics.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|771}} She feels that the liberal principles of informed consent are often in opposition with autocratic medical practices such that norms values and systems of expertise often shape and individuals ability to apply choice.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|789}}

Patients who agree to participate in trials often do so because they feel that the trial was suggested by a doctor as the best intervention.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|782}} Patients may find being asked to consent within a limited time frame a burdensome intrusion on their care when it arises because a patient has to deal with a new condition.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|783}} Patients involved in trials may not be fully aware of the alternative treatments, and an awareness that there is uncertainty in the best treatment can help make patients more aware of this.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|784}} Corrigan notes that patients generally expect that doctors are acting exclusively in their interest in interactions and that this combined with "clinical equipose" where a healthcare practitioner does not know which treatment is better in a randomized control trial can be harmful to the doctor-patient relationship.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|780–781}}