MBE Rules · Torts
Informed Consent
Informed consent (medical)
The rule
Physicians must disclose risks a reasonable patient would find material (patient standard) or that customary practice discloses (physician standard); causation requires that a prudent patient would have declined with full information.
In plain English
Informed consent requires that doctors inform patients about the risks of a medical procedure that a reasonable patient would consider important. If a patient is not given this information and suffers harm, they may have a claim if they can show that a reasonable patient would have chosen not to undergo the procedure had they been fully informed.
Worked example
A patient undergoes surgery after being told only about the benefits, but not about the significant risk of infection. After the surgery, the patient develops a severe infection and claims they would have opted out had they known. The court finds in favor of the patient, as a reasonable person would have considered the risk material.
Memory hook
No information, no consent; informed patients make better choices.
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where the physician believes they disclosed enough information, but students might overlook whether the risks disclosed were actually material to a reasonable patient.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve a scenario where a patient suffers harm after a procedure, focusing on what information was disclosed and whether it met the standards of informed consent.
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