The claim requires that a material risk was undisclosed, that the risk materialized, and that a reasonable patient or this patient would have declined the treatment had it been disclosed. Standards divide between physician-based and patient-based disclosure.
It is distinct from negligent performance.
Alternative Names:
Informed Consent Claim, Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Why it Matters?
Causation is the element that defeats most of these claims, since the plaintiff must establish that disclosure would have changed the decision, and testimony that they would have refused a recommended treatment after the fact is inherently suspect. Objective standards asking what a reasonable patient would have done are more favorable to defendants than subjective ones. Documented consent discussions in the chart are the primary evidence.
Frequently Confused with
Frequently asked questions
What defeats most informed consent claims?
Which disclosure standard favors defendants?
