Providing the patient relevant information has long been a physician's ethical obligation, but the legal concept of informed consent itself is recent. The first case defining informed consent appeared in the late 1950's. Earlier consent cases were based in the tort of battery, under which liability is imposed for unpermitted touching. Because informed consent claims, unlike battery claims, are based in negligence, they generally are covered by liability insurance. To protect yourself in litigation, in addition to carrying adequate liability insurance, it is important that the communications process itself be documented.
Good documentation can serve as evidence in a court of the law that the process indeed took place.
A well-designed, signed informed consent form may also be useful, but an overly broad or highly detailed form actually can work against you. At the other extreme, listing all of the risks may not be wise either. A comprehensive listing will be difficult for the patient to understand and any omission from the list will likely be presumed undisclosed. Copyright 1995-2001 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.