Do you need to State the Obvious? - The concept of Implied Consent

Do you need to State the Obvious? -

The concept of Implied Consent

[1] Implied consent is when a patient has not explicitly given their consent for a medical procedure, but their actions and behavior imply that they have given consent.

[2] This does not require a patient to provide explicit verbal or written consent.

[3] The patient indicates their consent through non-verbal cues.

[4] For example, if a doctor tells a patient that they need to draw blood and patient rolls up his sleeves and offers his arm, that’s assumed to be an implied consent to collect the blood sample.

[5] Despite having no documentary evidence of approval, this consent is deemed to be valid legally as well.

[6] Implied consent is provided for to avoid excessive, unnecessary documentation and impractical expenditure of time in relation to simple acts and interactions between a doctor and patient.

[7] However, it is important to note that implied consent is not always sufficient or appropriate.

[8] For instance, implied consent may be reasonable for a general physical examination by a doctor, but for examination of private parts you would need to specifically obtain verbal consent.

[9] Also, implied consent is usually not sufficient for procedures or surgeries which can have adverse effects.

[10] Here’s a question for you:

Considering that every Medicine has some side effect, when a doctor prescribes medicines, should the doctor be taking consent for it? Let me know in the comments below.

Spread the knowledge and Share with your colleagues, you can imply my consent to repost.

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