"Informed consent" is a term adopted by the contemporary medicine in all its fields. There may seem that it is a plain rendering of information to the patient followed by her/his decision about further procedures but the facts are different.
Actually this relationship between patient and doctor has an intricate nature. It guarantees an ethical frame and structure of any treatment afforded to the patient and it covers all the possible dilemmas as conflicts of any two principles taken from any contemporary medical code while it allows no simple resolution.
Individual steps require a compromise based on continuous discussion between both sides. In this process means controlled by the doctor and patient's goals must be conscientiously distinguished since a goal or meaning of live is not an expertise of the doctor and the doctor is obliged solely to revere them whereas to develop means or tools (organon) in all its manners is on the other side her/his main task.