Informed consent in Rhode Island is obviously allowed. Any doctor or facility is going to have a patient sign an informed consent form before they go in for a procedure, and you need to sign that form so you can have the procedure done. What is important to know about informed consent in Rhode Island is that you cannot consent to negligence. Even though you may sign an informed consent form so a doctor can perform a particular procedure on you, it does not mean that you waived your right to bring an action against that hospital, doctor or facility when there’s been a breach of the standard of care. This is very important to know. As a patient, you should sign the informed consent, read it and have the doctor explain it to you. If something does go wrong, come in and see us and we’ll be able to work our way through it to see if there is a negligence action against that facility or doctor.
This informational blog post was brought to you by Mark A. Fay, an experienced Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Lawyer.