Informed consent in the emergency department.

This article reviews the doctrine of informed consent to treatment, with particular attention to its role in the emergency department. The article begins with a brief look at the moral and legal foundations of informed consent. The article then examines the three essential features of informed consent, patient capacity, disclosure of information, and voluntariness. After a review of five exceptions to the duty to obtain informed consent, the article concludes with a brief summary of issues of special significance for emergency physicians.