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Five commonest areas that lead to lack of informed consent litigation

• Two-thirds of cases involved surgical procedures, the majority related to five adverse outcomes: 
• 1-the need for further surgery, 
• 2-poor cosmetic result, 
• 3-impaired vision or hearing, 
• 4-chronic pain,
• 5-infertility or sexual dysfunction.
• 
  
• The most common justifications doctors gave for non-disclosure were that the risk was too rare to warrant discussion or the specific risk was covered by a more general risk that was discussed. Although most informed consent disputes appear to involve disagreements about who said what and when, not stand-offs over whether a particular risk ought to have been disclosed, doctors may routinely underestimate the importance of a small set of risks that vex patients. Read the full report below:

PLoS Medicine: Legal Disputes over Duties to Disclose Treatment Risks to Patients: A Review of Negligence Claims and Complaints in Australia.

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