Posted April 9, 2021
That year, the New York Court of Appeals established the right to informed consent to medical intervention in a case involving non-consensual surgery. Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital 105 N.E. 92, 93 N.Y. (1914) Justice Benjamin Cardozo articulated the court’s reasoning: “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body; and a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient’s consent commits an assault for which he is liable in damages.” Read more.