Written Informed Consent For Veterans With High-Risk Medications

Guest post by David Shulkin M.D.

Every day, veterans are prescribed medications that may increase their likelihood of worsening outcomes, suicide, self-harm, or addiction. Too often, this happens without veterans being fully informed of these risks. To improve pharmaceutical safety, the VA should standardize the practice of Written Informed Consent (WIC) for all high risk medications to help reduce the risk of inappropriate prescribing and its adverse consequences.

Written Informed Consent is a process where a veteran (or their caregiver) receives a summary of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatments and is given the chance to ask questions prior to having the prescription filled. This approach represents a cornerstone of ethical medical practice that empowers veterans and fundamentally can improve health outcomes.