Healthcare and decision-making in dementia Consent to medical
treatment Patients must consent to all forms of medical
treatment. This is based on the notion of a civil law contract.
Consent can be explicitly stated or implicitly implied by the
act of turning up for the treatment or consulting the doctor.
However, the consent must be related to a specific form of
treatment of which the patient is aware of the implications. It
is not necessary for consent to be expressed in writing although
in practice, in many hospitals patients are asked to sign a form
as proof that they were fully informed about the treatment and
then consented to it (Leenen et al., 1994). According to section
8 of Federal Hospital and Convalescent Homes Establishment Law
of 1957 (KAKuG), special curative treatment, including
operations, can only be carried out with the person's consent.
If the person is incapable of consenting, consent can be given
by their legal representative. Also, as stated in the section on
guardianship (§ 282 of the G