Abandoning informed consent: An idea whose time has not yet come

In a recent critique of informed consent, Robert Veatch argues that the pra ctice is in principle unable to attain the goals for which it was developed . We argue that Veatch's focus on the theoretical impossibility of determin ing patients' best interests is misapplied to the practical discipline of m edicine, and that he wrongly assumes that the patient-physician communicati on fails to provide the knowledge needed to insure the patient's best inter ests. We further argue that Veatch's suggested alternative, value-based pat ient-professional pairing, is, on his own terms, impossible to implement. F inally, we reexamine the philosophical and practical justifications for inf ormed consent and conclude that the practice should be retained.