What Is Informed Consent?
What Is Informed Consent?
When you have a medical procedure, you are putting your health and your life into the hands of a medical professional. Accordingly, you should be vigilant about knowing what is going to be done, how long the procedure will take, the expected recovery time, what after-care should be expected, what work or home limitations or restrictions you will have and for how long, the doctor’s experience in performing the medical procedure, and the risks and the possible complications associated with the procedure.
Answers to some of these questions rest on your shoulders requiring you to make inquiries of the doctor. However, when it comes to risks and complications, that is information that the doctor has an obligation to disclose to you. This is commonly referred to as gaining your “informed consent” to move forward with the procedure. Failure on the doctor’s part to gain informed consent is malpractice. The American Medical Association provides a step-by-step informed consent process to guide medical professionals in gaining informed consent.
They say healthcare providers should:
- Evaluate whether the patient is mentally able to understand medical information and the ramifications of alternative treatments. Also, evaluate whether the patient can decide to undergo treatment independently and voluntarily.
- Give the patient information accurately, including their diagnosis, a detailed overview of the recommended procedure, as well as the risks, complications, and expected benefits of the procedure
- Document the patient’s informed consent in the medical record
According to Jakob Provo, associate attorney at the PHP Law Firm, if you have a complication from surgery that you weren’t informed about, you may very well have a medical malpractice case against the doctor for lack of informed consent before performing the procedure. However, there are some very minor risks of complications that may occur even in the absence of malpractice. The doctor is not required to identify every minute risk of a complication, only those that are significant. Accordingly, Provo says “if you experienced a complication from surgery, you should strongly consider consulting a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. They have experience in identifying whether the appropriate disclosures were made by the doctor to ensure proper informed consent was gained from you before performing the procedure.”
Medical Malpractice Law Firm Wichita
Did your doctor fail to inform you of a complication before surgery? The expert medical malpractice attorneys at PHP Law Firm can help you make it right. With a dedicated staff well-versed in medical malpractice cases, we offer free medical malpractice consultations in which we will evaluate and discuss the details of your case with you.
Once we decide that you were the victim of medical malpractice, we will tenaciously pursue compensation on your case. Plus, you will not be charged any fees unless we win.
Please contact us directly at (316) 683-9080 to discuss your medical malpractice case. We look forward to speaking with you.
