Our medicolegal experts answer 2 questions with respect to treatment, one regarding patient consent and the other clarifying when and if a doctor can refuse a patient consultation. This Sunday, we bring to you an old article from our archives.

Question1: What is ideal consent?

Answer: Consent was nicely discussed by the supreme court in the case of Sameera Kohli V/S Dr Prabha Manchanda. The inference from that judgment is as follows:

1. Consent should be real and valid – that means a written and signed consent
2. Consent should have the following things explained to the patients:
   1. nature and procedure of the treatment and its purpose, benefits and effect;
   2. alternatives if any available;
   3. an outline of the substantial risks; and
   4. adverse consequences of refusing treatment.

So, practically all the consents should be procedure specific.

3. Consent should be signed by the doctor and patient with two witnesses
4. Consent can be printed in any national or local language but in case a patient is illiterate or not knowing the printed language, an interpreter must explain the contents to the patient and then the patient should sign the consent. The interpreter should be made witness in such cases.
5. A consent should be taken before surgery or procedure.
6. In a printed consent form, all the blanks should be filled completely before taking a signature
   1. No content should be changed or added after the signatures are taken. If at all there is a need to add something, then a separate addendum should be made and against that, and signed by all the parties.

Question 2: Can a doctor refuse to consult a patient?

Answer: In non-emergency cases, the doctor has a right to choose a patient. He can refuse to see any non-emergency case. In case of emergency, his primary duty is to provide primary treatment to the patient and refer him to a place where the treatment for this emergency is available with proper escort.

This article was originally published on December 22, 2020.

Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

The authors, Advo. (Dr) Hitesh Bhatt and Dr. Geetendra Sharma from “B & S medicolegal consultancies” are Medico-legal Consultants.