Exceptions to Informed Consent

00:01 So there are a couple of things we also need to think about, when we're doing informed consent.

00:05 There may be times when there's no opportunity to do informed consent, so we will call them exceptions.

00:11 So the common case is going to be emergency conditions.

00:15 A patient is unconscious or not able to go through an informed consent process or communicate with us about how they would make a decision.

00:24 When it's these cases of pretty clear that the patient's life or health is in jeopardy, and you have to make decisions quickly.

00:33 Then in these instances, you may not need to do an informed consent process.

00:39 You don't want to delay the treatment in order to wait until you can get the consent. And where might this occur? Well, any kind of serious impairment to bodily function or serious dysfunction, any bodily organ or part is generally what considered as an emergency condition.

00:54 So you have to factor in, are there physiologic or psychological illnesses or injuries that are so extreme, that the life or health of the individual is at stake, and you really need to act quickly.

01:07 And really should only be limited to those things that are necessary to prevent the prolonged suffering or to deal with the imminent threat to life, limb, or health.

01:16 In generally, you want to get informed consent, You're only doing this in the circumstance where there's really no time to delay providing those treatments.

01:28 It's also the case that, if you do have some knowledge that the patient would not consent to the treatment, so maybe there is an advanced directive in place, that you know, would be countered to the patient's wishes.

01:40 If you know that, then you can't go with this emergency authorization.

01:44 You have to go by what you know of the patient's wishes upfront.