Unconsciousness and Informed Consent

It is a long established principle of the health care system in the United States that everyone who seeks medical attention has the final say in what procedures are performed on him or her. Each patient has the right to guide his or her own medical treatment plan and to refuse treatment if it seems too risky or like too much risk for not enough reward. Informed consent has taken root in these principles.

Sometimes, however, a patient when brought in for medical treatment is unable to express his or her consent to the doctors and nurses treating him or her. When this happens, consent may take two forms. In the first, the patient comes to the hospital completely unable to give consent to anything because they are unconscious or lack the decision-making capacity necessary. Here, consent can be presumed as long as the procedures performed on the individual are necessary immediately and cannot possibly be postponed until the individual has regained the ability to make a decision or consciousness.

This type of consent can also be construed in a surgical emergency. If a doctor realizes that there is more wrong than he or she initially thought and needs to perform a different or additional procedure while the patient is under anesthetic, consent can be construed.

A second type of informed consent arises when a person is unable to give consent but the next of kin, parents, spouse, etc. of the unconscious patient can be contacted. This is known as vicarious consent and is actually regulated by a variety of state and federal laws.

Contact a Pennsylvania Informed Consent Attorney

If a doctor has done something without your consent, construed or otherwise, contact the Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, PC at 610-667-7511.