Informed Consent and Consent

Informed Consent and consent are two different things.  You can receive Informed Consent to a medical treatment/procedure without giving actual consent to have it done.  Please keep in mind, I am not a legal provider.  I am trying to explain very legal and technical terms in an easy to understand manner.

In coming blogs, I will explain the definition of Informed Consent.  I will explain how verbal informed consent can differ from what you see on the actual consent form.  I will explain how a medical provider might perceive what Informed Consent is thus skewing what true Informed Consent really means.   Many patients are dependent on the information a medical provider gives them so it is vital that information is accurate, unbiased, and complete.  I also want to explore how the definition of Informed Consent has changed through the years and also what true Informed Consent should look like along with changes that need to be incorporated in order to ensure patients receive all the information they need.

I will also explain different types of consent such as the consent on a form, verbal consent, explicit consent, and implied consent.  Many states have laws governing how consent should be given and what procedures need to be followed.  For example, Indiana has a law stating how consent should be secured in an emergency situation.   There are also guidelines of how consent should and should not be secured in non-emergency situations.  Unfortunately, consent can be coerced and sometimes consent can be violated.

The first area I want to cover in this series of blogs is an actual example of consent forms.  Both forms are from an actual hospital.  One form is for consent for a procedure and the other form is for consent of in-patient hospital care.  I will dissect the consent forms in order to point out different areas of concern and make suggestions of changes that would be more patient-friendly.