Blanket consent - “The safety blanket for research”

Abstract

Every individual has the right to make decisions concerning health. Informed consent covers only known uses of samples/models/specimens. Hence, that cannot be considered purely informed consent because of complexity of genetic information. Blanket consent implies that there are no restrictions to the scope and duration of the consent. Which is given only once, but includes consent for any use of the samples at any time in the future. It is particularly important for scientific research in which new projects or experiments might be devised years after the subjects have given their consent and deposited their specimens/models etc. However, there are chances of misuse of information/specimen and there may be a breach of privacy and confidentiality.