Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Uten samtykke fra pasienten kan legen ikke dele informasjon med pårørende. - Without consent from the patient, the doctor cannot share information with relatives.

Yes. Norwegian often front-loads an adverbial phrase (time, place, condition, etc.) for emphasis or style. Here Uten samtykke fra pasienten (“Without the patient’s consent”) is a condition placed first.
Because something other than the subject is in the first position, Norwegian still keeps V2 word order (the finite verb in the 2nd position), so you get:

Uten samtykke fra pasienten (1st position)
kan (2nd position, finite verb)
legen (subject comes after the verb)

Why is it kan legen ikke dele and not legen kan ikke dele?

Both are correct; they just have different sentence openings:

Legen kan ikke dele informasjon med pårørende. (neutral: subject first)
Uten samtykke fra pasienten kan legen ikke dele informasjon med pårørende. (condition first)

When you put something like Uten samtykke... first, the verb (kan) must come next (V2), and the subject (legen) moves after it.

What exactly does kan ... ikke mean here—“cannot” or “may not”?

In this kind of rule/permission context, kan ikke often means is not allowed to / may not, not physical inability.
So it’s closer to: “Without the patient’s consent, the doctor may not share information...”

If you want to make the “prohibited” meaning even more explicit, Norwegian can also use:

Legen har ikke lov til å dele ... (is not allowed to)
Legen må ikke dele ... (must not)

Why is legen definite (-en) instead of en lege?

legen means the doctor (a specific doctor in the situation, or “the doctor” as a role in general statements). Norwegian commonly uses the definite form in general statements about roles when the context is clear.

If you used en lege, it would sound more like “a doctor (some doctor, not specified).”

Why is it fra pasienten and not fra pasient or fra en pasient?

pasienten is definite: the patient. In contexts like medical confidentiality, you often refer to the relevant patient as a known participant in the situation, so Norwegian prefers the definite form.

Other natural alternatives exist, depending on what you want:

uten samtykke fra pasienten = without consent from the patient (the one involved)
uten samtykke fra en pasient = without consent from a patient (more generic/unspecified)

Could I also say Uten pasientens samtykke? What’s the difference?

Yes, and it’s very common:

Uten pasientens samtykke = “Without the patient’s consent” (possessive)
Uten samtykke fra pasienten = “Without consent from the patient” (source/from-phrase)

They’re very close in meaning. pasientens samtykke is often a bit more compact and formal-sounding. samtykke fra pasienten slightly highlights that the consent must come from the patient.

What does samtykke mean, and is it countable?

samtykke means consent. It can be used as:

a general/mass concept: samtykke (consent)
a specific instance: et samtykke (a consent), plural samtykker

In your sentence, Uten samtykke ... is the general idea “without consent.”

Why is there no article before samtykke—why not uten et samtykke?

After uten (“without”), Norwegian often uses a bare noun when speaking generally:

uten samtykke = without consent (general condition)

Using an article makes it more like a specific, countable instance:

uten et samtykke = without a consent (a particular consent form/instance)

Both can be grammatical; uten samtykke is the most natural here.

Why is ikke placed after legen? Could it be somewhere else?

With a modal verb like kan, Norwegian typically places ikke after the subject (and after the finite verb):

kan + subject + ikke + infinitive

So: kan legen ikke dele is the standard pattern here.

You can move ikke later for special emphasis, but it changes the focus and can sound marked. The given placement is the normal, neutral one.

Why is it dele informasjon and not dele en informasjon?

informasjon is usually treated as an uncountable/mass noun in Norwegian (like “information” in English). So you normally say:

dele informasjon = share information

You might use a determiner if you mean a specific piece/type:

dele denne informasjonen = share this information
dele en opplysning / noen opplysninger = share a (specific) detail / some details

Why is it med pårørende—what does pårørende mean, and why no article?

pårørende means relatives / next of kin / family members (involved as caregivers). It’s commonly used in healthcare contexts.

The phrase med pårørende works like “with relatives/next of kin” in a general sense, so it can appear without an article.

If you want to be more specific, you can add a determiner:

med de pårørende = with the (particular) next of kin
med pårørende til pasienten = with the patient’s relatives/next of kin

Which preposition is correct with dele—why dele ... med?

For “share (something) with (someone),” Norwegian commonly uses:

dele [noe] med [noen]

So:

dele informasjon med pårørende = share information with next of kin

You’ll also see dele ... med in many everyday contexts (dele mat med venner, dele en nyhet med noen, etc.).

Is the comma necessary anywhere in this sentence?

No comma is needed. The fronted phrase Uten samtykke fra pasienten is not a subordinate clause; it’s just an adverbial prepositional phrase. Norwegian does not put a comma there.