Informed consent: Broadening the focus

Abstract

In Australia, the landmark case of Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 clarified the law relating to the duty of health professionals to provide information to patients. In responding to these developments in the law, the Australian physiotherapy profession has sought to define and articulate the scope of this legal duty as it relates to physiotherapists and to specific physiotherapy treatments, in particular cervical manipulation (Mann and Refshauge 2001). The response has been to focus on the duty discussed by the courts rather than on the emerging underlying issues of shared decision-making and patient empowerment.