Informed Consent

To the Editor.— Pediatricians directly responsible for the administration of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine must daily confront the problem of obtaining informed consent from the parents of these children. The report by Milstein et al1 was both informative and disturbing to those of us concerned about what constitutes truly informed consent. There is obviously a need to know what possible side effects our patients may suffer following vaccination. The report is, however, most disturbing because the terminology used is both misleading and hazardous in the present litiginous environment.