Legal Aspects of Health Care

Module 5 - Case

Consent /End of Life

Informed consent is permission given by a competent patient following to participate in medical treatment after the patient has received and understood the information necessary without any coercion , undue influence , intimidation or misrepresentation . This is based on the principle of autonomy and freedom which means that a person should have control over making decisions regarding his /her body , without any force There are 6 components of informed consent including information competency , understanding , voluntariness and consent . These rights to the patient are conferred by

the law . The patient should be competent at making a decision . Patients who are under anesthesia cannot make a valid decision and hence may be not able to give a valid decision until out of the effect of anesthesia . On the other hand , informed consent need to be taken when on a voluntary basis . In this situation , it can be found that the nurse had forced Mrs . Sparza to undergo surgery for both the eyes , when actually she had given consent for one eye . The presence of tears in the eyes suggests that Mrs . Sparza had not given voluntary permission to undergo surgery for both eyes . Even the consent form signed by Mrs . Sparza was not in a language she could comprehend (Oxley , 2006

Under the Patient Self-Determination Act 1991 , the patient has to give consent at the time of admission into the hospital and also any advance directives . The patient can also appoint a surrogate decision-maker in case she...