Who is the patient? Disclosure of information and consent in anesthesia and intensive care (informed consent).

Physicians have always strived to uphold all the ethical postulates of the medical profession in all aspects of the practice, however with the vast advances in science and technology, numerous ethical dilemmas regarding all aspects of life and ultimately death have emerged. Medical decisions however, are no longer in the sole jurisdiction of traditional Hippocratic medicine but are now deliberated and delivered by the patient and they are comprised of a number of additional determining aspects such as psychological, social, legal, religious, esthetic, administrative etc., which all together represent the complete best interest of the patient.