Pre-printed Consent forms
The law does not specify in what format the consent form needs to be. It does however mention what the essential components of a valid consent that must be present. So pre-printed consent forms do not violate any law.
In July 2020, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal commission decision on the Vinod Khanna vs R.G. Stone Urology And Leproscopy Hospital case (Reference 1) created a bit of a stir when it remarked that pre-printed consent forms with blanks only for patient name and doctors signature was not a fair practice. However it is important to understand what the commission meant exactly. The commission specifies that per-printed consent forms which can be applied to any procedure is not appropriate (Reference 2). This further emphasis the point that even per-printed consent forms need to list the details and complications which are specific for that procedure/surgery. Per-printed consent forms with only generic complications of surgery being mentioned would be deemed inadequate.
#informedconsent #consent #form #printed
#medicolegal #doctors #india #law #medlegal
