Medical students could learn more about sleep and sleep disturbances by having these topics integrated into the medical school curriculum.

An overview of guidelines physicians may follow if they think a patient is likely to refuse a recommended diagnostic test.

Specific advocate guidelines are needed for the protection of children in state custody who are potential research subjects in trials that would expose them to greater-than-minimal risk but also hold the prospect of direct benefit.

An overview of what the law and medical ethics have to say about gaining consent from adolescent for medical treatment.

An examination of the causes of traumatic brain injury, the mechanisms of primary and secondary injury, and how those injuries are evaluated and classified.

An explanation of the legal origin of informed consent, the key court decisions in establishing the principle of consent to treatment, and the knowledge of risks and benefits necessary to “inform” the consent process adequately.

Consent sounds like a laborious process that requires much time. Actually discussing a procedure or exam with a patient doesn’t take much more time than it took to read this paragraph.

Basic information about the two principal instruments used for assessing patients' decision-making competence and learn why both fall short of reliable, objective assessment.

When must specific consent for a test or treatment be sought? Must it be written, or will an oral consent, a nod of the head, or merely the absence of a refusal suffice?

The way that we choose how to frame the conversation with parents about halting or continuing such therapy for their children who will not recover has special importance in medicine and in society.