Consequences of Breach of Informed Consent in Clinical Cases

This article discusses the consequences of breaching informed consent in clinical cases and examines the legal and ethical implications. It emphasizes the importance of seeking informed consent in medical practice.

Informed consent 1
INFORMED CONSENT
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Informed consent 2
In the medical profession, health care providers are obligated to clearly explain a
treatment process to their patients. This process of informing the patient in a detailed explanation
of what medication and procedures are to be conducted is called consent. Consent can either be
informed or implied. Informed consent is an important form of consent especially where
procedures are involved. As stated by Grady (2015), it is a form of consent where the patient
vividly agrees on the treatment and procedures to be performed on them and is usually in written
form. Implied consent on the other hand involves the type of consent where the doctor assumes
consent depending on the current situation. The aim of this discussion is to explain the
consequences of a breach of informed consent in a clinical case and relate it to what law and
ethics says about it.
There are various laws and rules that regulate and govern the medical practitioners. Some
of these rules are outlined within the Hippocratic Oath of medical practice. In the oath, there are
pledges on how to aim at conserving human life and prioritizing it no matter the circumstance.
The medical and practitioners board of any country outlines laws and regulations to be followed
by any medical practitioner failure to which attracts penalties. Informed consent must be sought
before any medical procedures and treatment process is performed on a patient (Feinstein et al,
2018). When medics involve patients in research or surgical procedures, informed consent must
be always sought whereby the practitioner clearly explains the process of the procedures to be
conducted and ensures that the patient clearly understands (Katz, Webb & Committee on
Bioethics, 2016). The practitioner should also explain the consequences associated with this
procedures and ensure the patient grants permission to go on with the procedure.
A clinical case is given of a patient called James, a 52 year old male who presented with
severe abdominal cramps and bloating. He complained of severe diarrhea with blood stained

Informed consent 3
stool. On history taking and conducting tests, the patient was diagnosed with severe ulcerative
colitis. The ulcerative colitis had progressed to a very severe hence the need for a surgery. The
patient was briefed on his diagnosis by his general practitioner and informed that a partial
colectomy had to be performed on him. The use of medical terms made the patient not
understand properly the surgical procedure and the doctor did not go on to inform the patient of
the consequences and benefits of the surgery and scheduled a surgery for the patient.
If the surgery would be performed on the patient, there would be breach of consent. This
is because the patient was not given an explanation on what the surgery entailed including its
risks and benefits. Failure of seeking informed consent by medical practitioners has several
repercussions. For example if surgery would be performed in Mr. James’ case, there would be a
breach of law and ethics that govern the medical fraternity. This has serious consequences in that
if the patient later develops complications from the surgery performed then the surgeon would be
responsible for compensation of the patient. The legitimacy of an informed consent requires
direct participation of the patient in a decision making process. The consent is bound by a written
confirmation of the patient understanding the procedure in full. Breach in informed consent
could attract penalties such as the withdrawal of a license of medical practice (Kim & Miller,
2015). Informed consent is therefore important in the medical practice and all practitioners
should seek this consent before any treatment is conducted on the patient.

Informed consent 4
REFERENCES
Feinstein, M. M., Pannunzio, A. E., Lobell, S., & Kodish, E. (2018). Informed consent in
pediatric anesthesia: a narrative review. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 127(6), 1398-1405.
Grady, C. (2015). Enduring and emerging challenges of informed consent. New England Journal
of Medicine, 372(9), 855-862.
Katz, A. L., Webb, S. A., & Committee on Bioethics. (2016). Informed consent in decision-
making in pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 138(2), e20161485.
Kim, S. Y., & Miller, F. G. (2015). Informed consent for pragmatic trials: the integrated consent
Model.