Patient Consent

Introduction:

Consent review: “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his body; and a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient’s consent for which he is liable in damages. This is true except in cases of emergency, where the patient is unconscious and where it is necessary to operate before consent can be obtained”( Showalter 2015 pg. 364). To give a patient consent, the person should be legally competent and he should possess a reasonable knowledge and understanding about proposed medical and surgical treatment. The physicians and hospitals use two types of consent forms. Firstly, the general consent forms is a part of the registration process to grant the hospital permission

However, statutes, case law, and general common sense should indicate that an informed consent document does not protect a doctor or hospital from any liability. Rather, it should only protect against some of the inherent risks associated with the care being provided. An investigation into how the Texas legal system treats informed consent has revealed a number of interesting elements. First, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Section 74 governs healthcare liability lawsuits in Texas. A subsection of Section 74 handles the issue of informed consents – Sec. 74.102. This subsection creates the Texas Medical Disclosure Panel (the Panel). The Panel’s responsibility is to evaluate different medical procedures and identify the risks for each procedure that must be disclosed to a patient. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Sec. 74.102 (a). In general, if a healthcare provider complies with the Panel’s requirements, then the provider is usually protected by the “informed consent” doctrine. In a way, after an education regarding the risks, the patient “assumes the risks” of undergoing the procedure/treatment, and releases the provider from liability. But how far does this protection extend? How likely must the risk be in order to require disclosure? And what types of exposure is there when the informed consent

Specifically, the Code states:

“In a suit against a physician or health care provider involving a health care liability claim that is based on the failure of the physician or health care provider to disclose or adequately to disclose the risks and hazards involved in the medical care or surgical procedure rendered by the physician or health care provider, the only theory on which recovery may be obtained is that of negligence in failing to disclose the risks or hazards that could have influenced a reasonable person in making a decision to give or withhold