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Sevoflurane anaesthesia induces late apoptosis in the colonic and laryngeal cancer cells investigated. Although the results obtained may indicate that an anaesthetic gas mixture containing sevoflurane induces p53-dependent apoptosis in the Caco-2 cells, the mechanism of apoptosis induction is unclear and remains to be elucidated.

Aim To assess physicians' knowledge and practices for obtaining patients' informed consent to medical procedures.Methods An anonymous and voluntary survey of knowledge and practices for obtaining informed consent was conducted among 470 physicians (63% response rate) working in 6 hospitals: 93 specialists in anesthesiology, 166 in internal medicine, and 211 in surgery.Results Only 54% physicians were acquainted with the fact that the procedure for obtaining consent was regulated by the law. Internists and surgeons were better informed than anesthesiologists (P = 0.024). More than a half of respondents (66%) were familiar with the fact that a law on patient rights was passed in Croatia; there were no differences among different specialties (P = 0.638). Only 38% of the physicians were fully informed about the procedure of obtaining consent. Internists and surgeons provided detailed information to the patient in 33% of the cases and anesthesiologists in 16% of the cases (P < 0.050). Internists reported spending more time on informing the patient than anesthesiologists and surgeons (P < 0.001). There were no differences in knowledge and practices for obtaining informed consent between physicians working in university and those working in community hospitals (P ≥ 0.05 for all questions). ConclusionPhysicians in Croatia have no formal education on informed consent and implement the informed consent process in a rather formal manner, regardless of the type of hospital or medical specialty. Systemic approach at education and training at the national level is needed to improve the informed consent process. PUBLIC HEALTH doi: 10.3325/cmj.2009.50.567 PUBLIC HEALTH 568 Croat Med J. 2009 50: 567-74 www.cmj.hrInformed consent is a professional ethics issue emanating from the fiduciary responsibility of the physician to the patient. It is an integral component of the physician's fiduciary responsibility. In many countries informed consent for medical procedures is a standard procedure (1-9) for providing the patients with the information on diagnostic and treatment procedures, risks, complications, and alternative treatment options in non-emergency cases (5,9,10), thereby considerably improving the communication between physician and patient. A signed form is the evidence that their conversation led to a mutual understanding. However, the implementation of the informed consent process differs among countries because informing the patient and requiring the consent are still not regarded as a legal obligation of the physician (6).In the clinical setting, the term "informed consent" was developed in the USA in 1957. It was further developed in the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964, which established worldwide ethical principles for medical research involving human participants. In its current, 2008 version (11), the article 24 states: "In medical research involving competent human subjects, each potential subject must be adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, insti...