Connecticut Medical Malpractice and Informed Consent in the Digital Age

Have you or a loved one undergone a medical procedure where the healthcare provider presented you with all options, including less invasive procedures? Hopefully, your answer is yes.

According to Connecticut law, the issue of informed consent is separate from your healthcare provider’s ability to perform his or her diagnostic duties and treatment of illnesses. A Connecticut physician is required to inform the patient of all risks associated with their procedure/treatment and if there are any feasible, less invasive alternatives. Failure to disclose this information could be medical malpractice.

When the patient signs the informed consent paperwork, he or she is certifying that they received information about the procedure/treatment from their doctor and understands the risks. This becomes part of the patient’s medical record.

Hospitals are moving to digitize this process. Using actual paper to complete this process can cause delays for surgery and have missing components to the informed consent process, including site of the procedure and a description of what is to be performed. Just because this process will speed up paperwork before surgery, does not mean you should rush through it.

The attorneys at McEnery Price Messey & Sullivan urge you to ask as many questions as necessary prior to undergoing a procedure or treatment and make sure you understand what is being performed. If you or a loved one question whether you were given all of the risks and alternatives to your surgery, and a permanent injury resulted, find out if you have a medical malpractice case.