If the patient was unable to provide consent due to illness, a next-of-kin was permitted to give the consent, or it could be given the next day.
Before the act, consent to leave a body to science could be given orally, leaving the potential for abuse or confusion.
We've all heard of the German chap who found his willing main course on the web, convicted first of manslaughter because of the consent of his victim, then murder at a retrial where it was argued that consent to such an act indicated an unsound mind, hence... valid consent could not be given.
In the present study in Lilongwe, Malawi, only 40% of patients LTFU who gave consent could be traced since contact information was not available for many and field tracing attempts outside Lilongwe were infeasible.
It was agreed that patients unable to give informed consent could be included to obtain a representative patient sample.
"Where the medical and scientific evidence suggests those powers could cause serious harm, where the operational case is not clear, and where the historic principle of policing by consent could be placed at risk, I will not give my agreement," said May. "The application for the authorisation of the Wasserwerfer 9000 water cannon does not meet that high threshold".
Even if consent had been technically given, in such a stressful situation, we have concerns about how meaningful that consent could be.
Consent could be captured as a matter of legal record.
Consent is the most relevant here – consent can be given, and it can also be taken away.
Consent must always be given.
The panel therefore found that informed consent could not have been given, an omission which the panel on Monday described as "serious".
