By: Associated Press//February 18, 2014
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin state law covering what information doctors are required to tell patients would be expanded under a bill that has passed the Senate.
The Legislature last year changed the law to no longer require doctors to give patients as much information about available alternative treatments. The law was changed from a “reasonable patient standard” to a “reasonable physician standard.”
The bill passed Tuesday would expand the “informed consent” law to apply to chiropractors, dentists, podiatrists and optometrists.
The change was made in reaction to a 2012 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that said a doctor’s “informed consent” duty includes telling a patient about medical tests and treatments that may be appropriate for a patient’s symptoms, even if the doctor doesn’t believe the patient has the underlying condition or disease.