This paper provides an overview of the law of informed consent and sets out some practical suggestions for litigating informed consent issues. Three issues focused on include: (1) the obligation of health care practitioners to disclose personal matters, (2) the method and content of disclosure, and (3) causation and the timing of surgery. These issues are analyzed from the perspective of both a plaintiff and defendant’s counsel.

This paper was presented at the Health Law program which was held in Edmonton on March 3, 2011 and Calgary on March 10, 2011.