A medical professional is not supposed to perform any medical procedure, prescribe any medication, or administer any other treatment without the informed consent of a patient or their legal representative. Doing otherwise may not only be unethical, but also illegal, and can risk major harm to the patient. But what is informed consent and why is it ...

 While medical issues can sometimes be complex, it is the doctor's job to explain things in a way that patients understand. Therefore, the requirement of being able to dispel a patient's confusion is at the heart of informed consent laws. What is informed consent? In order to meet the requirements of the law, informed consent mandates that pat...