n. agreement to undergo medical treatment sought from an adult or child who lacks capacity to *consent. More generally, permission from patients with capacity, but whose autonomy is constrained, given to their doctor to act in their *best interests. Assent has ethical but not legal force. In medical research, particularly with children over seven years, it is difficult to justify proceeding without assent, since research is not principally and inevitably in the patient’s best interests.
The granting of permission, agreement, assent or approval. In any research on human beings, each potential subject must be adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, institutional affiliations of the researcher, the anticipated benefits and potential risks of the study, and the discomfort it may entail. The subject should be informed of the right to abstain from participation in the study or to withdraw consent to participate at any time without reprisal. After ensuring the subject has understood the information, the researcher should then obtain the subject’s freely given informed consent, preferably in writing. If the consent cannot be obtained in writing, the non-written consent must be formally documented and witnessed.... consent
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