Before any doctor performs a procedure on you, they need your permission. That sounds simple enough, but informed consent goes way beyond just signing a form. It’s a legal and ethical requirement that protects your right to make educated decisions about your own medical care. At Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve seen too many cases where patients weren’t given the full picture before a procedure. When that happens, and something goes wrong, it’s not just bad medicine. It can be malpractice.
What Makes Consent “Informed”
True informed consent means your healthcare provider must explain several things before you agree to treatment:
- The nature of the procedure and why it’s recommended
- Potential risks and complications that could occur
- Expected benefits and likelihood of success
- Alternative treatment options, including doing nothing
- What might happen if you decline the procedure
Your doctor can’t just hand you paperwork and expect you to figure it out. They need to have an actual conversation with you in a language you can understand. Medical jargon doesn’t cut it.
The Standard In Indiana
Indiana law requires physicians to disclose what a reasonable medical practitioner would disclose under similar circumstances. This means your doctor should tell you about risks that other doctors in their field would consider significant enough to mention. The conversation should happen when you’re capable of understanding the information. If you’re sedated, in severe pain, or otherwise unable to process what you’re being told, that’s not valid consent.
When Consent Isn’t Actually Consent
Some situations make consent invalid, even if you signed something. You can’t give informed consent if your doctor:
- Rushed through the explanation without giving you time to ask questions
- Failed to mention the serious risks that occurred during your procedure
- Performed a different procedure than what you agreed to
- Didn’t explain alternatives that would have been less risky
We see this often in surgical cases. A patient agrees to one type of surgery, but the surgeon makes additional repairs or changes the approach without discussing it beforehand. Unless it’s a true emergency, that’s a problem.
Emergency Situations Are Different
Medical emergencies create an exception. If you’re unconscious or unable to communicate, and waiting for consent would cause serious harm or death, doctors can proceed with necessary treatment. This exception exists to save lives, not to skip conversations that could have happened earlier.
Questions You Should Always Ask
An Indianapolis Medical Malpractice Lawyer will tell you that before agreeing to any medical procedure, you have the right to understand what’s happening. Ask about success rates for the procedure, whether your doctor has performed it before, and what recovery looks like. Ask about less invasive options. If your doctor seems annoyed by questions or dismisses your concerns, that’s a red flag. Good physicians welcome these conversations because they want you to feel confident about your care.
What Happens When Consent Is Missing
When doctors skip informed consent and complications arise, it becomes a legal issue. Even if the procedure was performed correctly from a technical standpoint, the lack of proper consent can still constitute medical negligence.
We can review whether you received adequate information before your procedure. If you weren’t told about a risk that ultimately happened, or if a reasonable person would have declined the procedure had they known the full story, you may have grounds for a claim.
If you experienced complications from a medical procedure and feel you weren’t properly informed beforehand, don’t assume you just have to accept it. Medical providers have a responsibility to respect your autonomy and give you the information you need to make sound decisions about your body. We help patients understand their rights when informed consent failures lead to harm. An Indianapolis Medical Malpractice Lawyer on our team can investigate what information you received, what you should have been told, and whether your doctor met Indiana’s standards for informed consent. Reach out to discuss what happened and learn about your options.
