Are you asked to sign that you received and agree with consent forms you haven't received, but they want you to sign the signature machine?

The hospital obviously has no idea of law. Personally I would have told them in no uncertain terms that I am not signing anything unless they can damn well FIND a way of printing the forms so I can read them first. If they can't even do that competently, how can I have any confidence in their ability to do anything else? Surely it must be possible to print them off in blank? Failing that, well done for doing the right thing. I wouldn't call this insanity, just insistence on doing what's right.

And it's all very well them telling you things, but that means nothing unless it's on the forms. If it's not in writing, you can't sign up to it.

It's a bee in my bonnet too - I happen to be British and know about the case of Saunders v Anglia Building Society, which revolved around an old lady who was conned by her nephew into an agreement that should have been financially beneficial, and involved her house. She didn't read it first because of bad eyesight, and when she found out what it actually said, she sued her nephew on a plea of non est factum - that "this is not my document". (The building society got involved because she was led to believe the deal would pay off her mortgage with them, and it didn't.) This went all the way to the House of Lords, our supreme court at the time, and their Lordships quite reasonably found against her because if they allowed her to win, no signature would ever be worth anything. Anyone could retract it later, saying "sorry, I didn't know it said that". If you sign something, it must be assumed that you have read it.

I came across this when I was in prison. You get asked to sign all kinds of "compacts" - such as agreeing to your phone calls and post being randomly censored. At least they did that on paper, and I insisted on not signing anything until I've read it thoroughly. This annoys officers, but it is my RIGHT to know what I'm signing, and if they complain about having to wait for me, I can always treat them to a description of the case of Saunders v Anglia Building Society to explain why I'm making them wait... :)

Then you tell them you are not going to participate in the study.

It's that simple.

Broadly worded releases are dangerous, and there is nothing keeping you there. In fact, medical directives can be walked all over, especially in an environment external to your regular care.

The part about interns and others being allowed in is actually common for any teaching hospital, and the use of video is also common for studies. While they are collecting data, they want to get it in as many forms as they can.

You should *NEVER* sign anything that allows someone else to do something you do not want - that goes for any legal form, not just this one. You read and understood enough of it to make you uncomfortable, and this study is not critical to your care. It's the main reason there is so much trouble getting research subjects - most people want the control over their health care, and this both probably non-essential, and you could find yourself in a situation you never expected.

Just say no.

yes

No.