Informed Consent Forms Now Written for Patients, Not Lawyers

Health Law

Informed Consent Forms Now Written for Patients, Not Lawyers

Posted Feb 6, 2008, 03:44 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Once considered an "administrative nuisance" by many practitioners, informed consent has become a hot trend in modern medicine.

Informed consent forms detailing the risks, benefits and agreements made prior to nonemergency treatment are now being written in clear, comprehensible English, rather than legalese, at medical facilities at the forefront of the profession. And, with the help of computerization, patients can routinely be given informed consent forms days ahead of scheduled surgery, allowing them time actually to read the documents and ask questions beforehand, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Without informed consent, doctors and other medical workers can face tort liability for performing unauthorized procedures and potential professional discipline. Lack of informed consent, the newspaper notes, is a common allegation in medical malpractice cases, but it can also form the basis for lawsuits seeking damages for breach of contract, civil battery, fraud and deceit.

"We cannot just walk into patients' rooms and tell them they need surgery and give them an unintelligible form to sign," says Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and medical professor at Yale University. "This shouldn't be a three-minute discussion, but a process by which doctor and patient come together to make shared decisions."

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