Consent

Although emergency situations arise where a patient requires urgent medical attention, and he or she is unable to give consent to treatment, however, patients who are legally competent possess the right to consent, or refuse to consent, to any and all medical procedures. This right is often referred to as informed consent. To obtain informed consent, a health care practitioner must explain to the patient the necessary and relevant information concerning the medical procedure or course of treatment, and secure his or her approval. However, a patient cannot effectively consent if he or she has not been informed about all “material risks” surrounding the medical procedure or course of treatment. Courts have stated that “material risks” are risks that, if made known to a reasonably prudent person, could foreseeably and reasonably affect that person’s decision to undergo the medical procedure or entire course of treatment.

A health care practitioner may obtain a patient’s consent either orally or in writing. However, a consent agreement, reduced to writing, has many benefits. For example, a record of the facts, as explained to the patient, is preserved for future reference. Additionally, Ohio’s informed consent statute states that a written consent agreement will be presumed valid and effective if the following three requirements are met: the consent agreement sets forth, in general terms, the nature and purpose of the procedure or treatment, together with the reasonably known risks; the person entering into the consent agreement acknowledges that the foregoing information was disclosed; and the consent agreement was signed by the patient, his or her legal guardian or custodian. Written consent agreements do not affect the common law rights and liabilities between practitioners and patients, including the right of practitioners to obtain oral or implied consent from their patients. ORC § 2317.54

Consent