ABA Family Legal Guide

Health-Care Law

Patients' Rights

Informed Consent

My doctor told me about a medical procedure in very technical language that I didn't understand. I consented, but I didn't really know what I was letting myself in for. Does this count as informed consent?

You are properly informed when the doctor explains to you all the facts necessary to make a knowledgeable decision regarding your medical care. This information should be given to you when you are calm, sober, and preferably not medicated. There are times, of course, when you will have to make a fast, nerve-racking decision about treatment for yourself or a family member. When time is of the essence, the doctor should give you as much information as possible in order to make a sound decision, but this will no doubt be less in-depth information than in other, non-life-threatening situations.

You have to actually understand the information the doctor gives you. If your alternatives are couched in medical jargon that you do not understand, you cannot legally consent to the treatment because, in effect, you have no idea what your doctor is talking about. To be informed, you need to be given the information in terms you can understand. Of course, if you don't understand the information the doctor gives you, then you need to tell the doctor so that he or she can try again—doctors can't read your mind, and you can't expect them to divine whether you've understood the information or not.