Before undergoing a medical procedure, you may be asked to sign a consent form or waiver. Generally, medical consent forms include information about how the procedure will be conducted, any side effects that may occur, and additional information. The purpose of signing a consent form is to ensure that patients are provided with full and complete information about the medical procedure they will be undergoing, and that doctors are given informed consent to complete the procedure. This may be a legal requirement or part of the medical provider’s compliance policies.

After undergoing a medical procedure that required the signing of a consent form, patients sometimes sustain injuries. Patients often feel that because they signed a consent form, they cannot file a claim for medical malpractice — but this is not true. If you were injured because of a medical professional’s negligence, you should be able to file a medical malpractice claim.

Types of Medical Malpractice

There are many different types of medical malpractice. Medication errors, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, and anesthesia errors are a few examples.

The only type of medical malpractice case that a consent form may interfere with is if a patient claims that they were not provided with complete information about a procedure. In this case, the terms of the consent form would need to be examined to see if anything was left out that could have contributed to a patient’s injuries.

What a Consent Form Is, and What it Isn’t

A consent form is a document that provides information about a medical procedure to a patient, and ensures that they have all of the details about a procedure before consenting to it. It is not a pass for doctors to cause harm to patients or be negligent with no consequences. Although a patient provides their consent to undergo a procedure by signing a consent form, they do not consent to injuries or subpar care. You are still entitled to compensation if you were injured because of a medical provider’s negligence.

The attorneys of Zayas Law Firm can help if you or a loved one was injured due to medical malpractice. We will fight to hold the responsible parties accountable and get you the care you need.

If you are interested in speaking with our legal team, send us a message or call (860) 854-9156 to schedule a free consultation with our lawyers.