Free and Informed Consent: The right to decide if a risk is acceptable based on access to pertinent information and absence of compulsion. The Belmont Report defines informed consent in the following way: "[that] subjects, to the degree that they are capable, be given the opportunity to choose what shall or shall not happen to them. This opportunity is provided when adequate standards for informed consent are satisfied." The Online Ethics Center spells out conditions necessary for fulfilling informed consent:

(a) disclosure (of information to the patient/subject); (b)comprehension (by the patient/subject of the information being disclosed);

(c) voluntariness (of the patient/subject in making his/her choice);

(d) competence (of the patient/subject to make a decision); and

(e) consent (by the patient/subject).