Informed Consent Requires Understanding: Complete Disclosure Is Not Enough

My latest open peer commentary is in the May 2019 American Journal of Bioethics: "Informed Consent Requires Understanding: Complete Disclosure Is Not Enough."

I tackle one of the most important yet under-examined issues in bioethics: the relationship between clinician disclosure and non-clinician understanding comprehension. 

I extend four questions on this relationship in the research ethics context to address the proper role of comprehension in clinical informed consent. 

1. Do research subjects understand basic aspects of the studies in which they are enrolled? 
2. Should we set minimum thresholds for research subject comprehension? 
3. How and where should we set those minimum thresholds? 
4. What consequences should we impose when subjects do not meet the minimum thresholds?