Informed Consent

Informed Consent is a clinical protocol where the patient (client, subject) is informed of the risks and benefits of a medication or treatment and then is allowed to consent to (or decline) the prescription or procedure.

The term has been in use in the clinical community for decades, but has only recently entered the lexicon of the TG Community.

Within the TG community, informed consent has recently been used in the context of obtaining and using medications for Hormone Replacement Therapy. This protocol has been replacing the traditional protocol which requires considerable formality to obtain the coveted "Letters" to begin treatment. Previously, those who did not wish to go through the rigors of counseling and evaluation in order to begin HRT would obtain the drugs on the black market and self-medicate, often taking an ineffective dose or a toxic dose of medications whose purity was uncertain.

Under informed consent, the patient assumes most of the responsibility for the decision to medicate or treat. The physician and other professionals oversee the course of treatment but do not act in a manner which is perceived as a roadblock.