This article discusses the introduction of the term “informed consent” into medical malpractice law and collects the prior uses of the term in other contexts.

This article discusses two nineteenth century cases in which surgery was performed over the objections of a competent adult patient and was followed by governmental investigation and action. The two cases are Jonathon ...

In 1851 the Provisional State of Deseret (renamed Utah when it became part of the United States enacted the earliest known law requiring informed consent to health care. This article discusses the law, its context, and its ...

This article collects summaries of the legal and professional actions involving medical consent and refusal in English speaking jurisdictions in the nineteenth century