Is this really necessary?
What are the risks?
Are there other options?
What happens if I don’t do anything?
Christer Mjåset
Sometimes the longest, hardest consultations involve explaining why I don't have an operation to fix the problem. But even if we are considering surgery, we still have to go through a proper consent process that incorporates and expands Dr Mjaset's 4 questions:
What are we treating?
Are there other options, what happens if I don’t do anything?
What does the operation involve?
What is the aftermath of the operation like?
What are the risks?
Is this the right thing to do?
This good TED talk discusses this at more length.