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 Medical Surgeries, Diagnosis and Related Issues An elderly person who may not be in a completely competent state of mind will almost certainly raise a question of whether they can "consent in an informed manner". Because they may not be competent to understand the consequences of the physician's discussion about the condition, the risks and the potential treatments, the law will not allow them to give consent. A guardian or conservator may have to be appointed for this purpose. See Living Wills, Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, and Incapacity. If an elderly parent has signed a Durable Power of Attorney For Healthcare, the spouse or children of the person or other relatives may be required to be present with the document to receive the "informed consent" discussion from the physician. A particularly troublesome area is where your children are injured, and in an emergency a physician must perform a certain operation. Physicians must obtain your consent before they operate or treat in most cases [some state laws have exceptions.] However, the nature of emergencies is such that if the physician cannot reach the parent/parents of the child, physicians are permitted to perform surgical or other treatments. No doubt many have seen episodes of various television physician/hospital shows in which this was an issue. The child is brought in with an apparent serious head injury which requires an operation to the brain to stop otherwise fatal bleeding. The parents cannot be found [some of the reasons why are television episodes in and of themselves] and time is critical. Usually one doctor wants to operate, but the hospital administrator and one other doctor say they have to wait. The reason is because of the potential liability to the hospital for performing brain surgery on its own, without parental consent. Imagine yourself in the shoes of the doctor who makes the decision to operate, the operation goes awry and the child dies. Leaving aside the actual proof problems and standard of care which would be the subject of the lawsuit, there is almost no doubt that the hospital and doctor will be named in a lawsuit.
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