It is a common misconception that when a patient signs an informed consent form, he or she is waiving a right to hold the hospital or doctor liable for any resulting harm. Nothing could be further from the truth. An informed consent is a legal statement, and can take a written or verbal form, but it does not absolve the doctor from liability under instances of poor medical care or mistakes. All this form deals with is the knowledge of the patient - it says that the doctor thoroughly reviewed the risks and benefits of a particular procedure or treatment, and that the patient fully understands these risks. In actions for breach of the standard of care commonly known as medical malpractice whether or not you consented to the surgery does not affect your right to sue.

There are also separate actions for battery if there is no informed consent. Even in those actions, signing the form is not always fatal to your case. What if the doctor failed to mention that a possible side effect included paralysis? This piece of information could have very well changed the patient's mind about having the procedure. The patient was therefore unable to make a sound judgment regarding the procedure. There was no way for the patient to know this information was left out, until it actually occurs.

In the reverse, failure to acquire a patient's written consent may be used against a doctor. The purpose of informed consent is to inform the patient of the impending health problem, identify reasons for a proposed treatment course, state the likelihood of success of a particular treatment, identify specific benefits and risks, list treatment alternatives and their benefits and risks, and discuss possible consequences if no treatment is pursued. If a physician is vague, uses convoluted medical jargon, or fails to bring up any pertinent points, the informed consent may be found to be invalid and the physician guilty of failure to obtain consent.

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