@article {Wittmedethics-2016-103684, author = {Karsten Witt}, title = {Identity change and informed consent}, elocation-id = {medethics-2016-103684}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.1136/medethics-2016-103684}, publisher = {Institute of Medical Ethics}, abstract = {In this paper, I focus on a kind of medical intervention that is at the same time fascinating and disturbing: identity-changing interventions. My guiding question is how such interventions can be ethically justified within the bounds of contemporary bioethical mainstream that places great weight on the patient{\textquoteright}s informed consent. The answer that is standardly given today is that patients should be informed about the identity effects, thus suggesting that changes in identity can be treated like {\textquoteleft}normal{\textquoteright} side effects. In the paper, I argue that this approach is seriously lacking because it misses important complexities going along with decisions involving identity changes and consequently runs into mistakes. As a remedy I propose a new approach, the {\textquoteleft}perspective-sensitive account{\textquoteright}, which avoids these mistakes and thus provides the conceptual resources to systematically reflect on and give a valid consent to identity-changing interventions.}, issn = {0306-6800}, URL = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/20/medethics-2016-103684}, eprint = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/20/medethics-2016-103684.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Medical Ethics} }