Is consent in medicine a concept only of modern times?

Although the issue of consent in medical practice has grown immensely in re cent years, and it is generally believed that historical cases are unknown, our research amongst original ancient Greek and Byzantine historical sourc es reveals that it is a very old subject which ancient philosophers and phy sicians have addressed. Plato, in ancient Greece, connected consent with th e quality of a free person and even before him. Hippocrates had advocated s eeking the patient's cooperation in order to combat the disease. In Alexand er the Great's era and later on in Byzantine times, not only was the consen t of the patient necessary but physicians were asking for even more safegua rds before undertaking a difficult operation. Our study has shown that from om ancient times physicians have at least on occasion been driven to seek the consent of their patient either because of respect for the patient's au tonomy or from fear of the consequences of their failure.