What is Informed Consent?

By the book, informed consent, which is also called the consent process, is “A 过程 in which patients are given important information, including possible risks and benefits, about a medical procedure or treatment, genetic testing, or a clinical trial.”

Furthermore, the consent process has a purpose, which is to help patients “decide if they want to be treated, tested, or take part in the trial.” So, informed consent is not just a signature on a form or a to-do item on a pre-surgical checklist. 

Doctors must fully address all four aspects of informed consent to fulfill their duty of care. If a breach of care causes injury, a 纽约人身伤害律师 may be able to obtain substantial compensation for victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages are usually available in these cases as well.

Process

The informed consent process is an ongoing dialogue that includes new information, from the doctor or patient, as it becomes available.

During conversations, some doctors only listen to most patients for about 十一秒. Because this conversation is usually so brief, the doctor only knows how a procedure affects most patients, physically and mentally. The doctor doesn’t know how a procedure will affect a specific patient, physically or mentally.

As a result, the doctor recommends a procedure that’s appropriate for most people in most cases, but may be completely inappropriate for a given patient in a given situation. The one-sided recommendation clearly violates a doctor’s fiduciary duty of care.

This legal responsibility requires doctors to set aside all other priorities, such as staying on schedule for the day, and only do what’s best for a particular patient, even if that means everyone else waits.

Furthermore, as mentioned, the process is ongoing. If new medical information becomes available, doctors must deliver that information to the patient and re-obtain consent. On the other side, if patients develop certain medical conditions that could affect surgical outcome, or if the patient simply has second thoughts, the doctor must incorporate this data into the informed consent process.

Information For and To Patients

Information in the informed consent process is for the patient so the patient can make a good decision, not for the doctor so the doctor can check off a box. This requirement means that the information must be in a language the patient understands. 

There’s a difference between a patient and a financially responsible party. The line gets especially blurry if the patient is a minor and the financially responsible party is a parent or caregiver. Doctors cannot reveal some patient information to caregivers for privacy reasons, and financially responsible parties cannot give informed consent unless they know everything about the procedure and its effects.

Risks and Benefits

The risk and benefits of any surgical procedure are relative. What one person might consider minimal risk could be frightening risks to someone else.

Furthermore, risks and benefits are subjective. The patient, not a doctor or a medical textbook, determines what risk is tolerable and what benefits are worthwhile. 

Risks and benefits change over time, especially subjective risks and benefits, which is why these ongoing conversations are so important. That’s especially true in elective procedures. The surgery date might be three or four months after the initial consultation date. Many things can change drastically over such a long period of time.

Medical Procedure

The informed consent process is compact in emergency surgery situations. Nevertheless, doctors cannot skip any steps. The process must be thorough and the patient, or the responsible party, must have a chance to participate in this process.

This point brings up a common problem in emergency surgery situations. The law is a bit unclear as to who can give informed consent in these situations, unless the patient has a living will or another similar document.

On a related note, consent is revocable. Assume Amy is unconscious when she arrives at the hospital. Her father gives informed consent to brain surgery. If Amy wakes up, she can revoke that consent. She could also change her mind and revoke her own consent.

Informed consent is just as important to the surgical process as a scalpel. For a free consultation with an 纽约经验丰富的人身伤害律师, contact Napoli Shkolnik. There are no upfront legal fees to begin a claim.