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Snyder Wenner Legal Blog

Friday, April 11, 2008

What is Informed Consent?

You may have heard doctors and nurses talking about getting your “informed consent” before a treatment is delivered. Informed consent is the legal term for your permission for treatment or testing. Your permission has to be obtained in writing before the treatment takes place. The consent form explains the risks and side effects involved and asks you to sign in acknowledgement that you have read it and you understand the risks.

Failure to obtain informed consent is considered battery and is against the law. If a you are not given the opportunity to sign an informed consent form, or if you’re mislead about any of the conditions of treatment, and you sustain any injury because of the treatment, you may have a valid claim of medical malpractice.

The signing of an informed consent form does not release medical professionals from their duty to give you excellent medical care that conforms to the accepted standard.

Types of informed consent lawsuits
  • The informed consent signature is on file, yet the patient was given false information by the doctor, nurse or support staff.
  • The medical professionals followed protocol but failed to acknowledge a patient’s mental or psychological condition that prevented him or her from fully understanding what was said. In such cases, informed consent should be obtained by a caregiver or legal guardian.

You can learn more about informed consent and your rights if you email us at Snyder & Wenner, P.C.

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posted by Patti at 7:49 AM 1 comments

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