"Informed" Consent Laws Broken

I found this little tidbit in Nick's youtube video here; Sanford part two [of four] -- details details detail.wmv - YouTube  He put up a little jewel from his "informed consent."  I just love how these people circumvent the law.  Here's the item in full.  I will go through it line by line for you as well.
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4. I understand that:
    a.  I can change my mind.  If I do, I must tell the person doing the procedure or treatment or the team
         before they start.
    b.  The person doing the procedure or treatment may have help from others.  Help would include
         opening or closing the wound.  Help might also include taking grafts, cutting out tissue, implanting
         devices.  I have been told who will help, if known.
     c.  The team members may change during the procedure.
     d.  To protect me, the team will  double-check who I am and what I am having done.
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This just amazes me.  DOES THE PATIENT UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE GIVING UP RIGHTS ENUMERATED IN PATIENT RIGHTS LAW? 

Beginning with #4(a)  Yes the patient can change their mind.  However the law specifically states that the patient can change their mind EVEN AFTER BEGINNING!  This little item also needs to explain the "start" that they are talking about.  Does it start when you walk through the medical treatment center's doors, like they claimed at my hospital?  Once you walk in, they can do whatever they please to you?  Does it start when they get an IV line into you?  Does it start when they deliberately take away your mind with Versed?  You tell me!  Even if you say no to Versed, they still give it to you.  That way they can claim that you never objected to anything!  Will you remember telling them no?  (not that it matters...)  Will they simply give you Versed and then have your companion sign off on the "necessary" treatment?

4(b)  The person doing your treatment "may" have help from others.  It should read;  they WILL have help from others.  Of course they will have help, how stupid to say this...  However, this "HELP" should NOT be defined as they define it.  If the person "helping" is actually taking grafts, cutting out tissue and implanting devices, then that person is DOING THE PROCEDURE, not just helping.  Also the "help" must be named, their role in the patients care defined, and it must be written on a sheet of paper with extra sheets as necessary.  That's the LAW! 

4(c)  The team members may NOT change during the procedure unless their name appears on the WRITTEN consent sheet specifying who they are and what they will be doing.  This item is actually a permission to allow students, interns, janitors or whomever to relieve the people you EXPECTED and gave permission to perform the work.  No, no, no to this egregious deviation from informed consent law.  They, by having you sign this, are breaching patient rights law.  Don't sign away your rights.  You have the federally mandated right to know who will be performing your care, their title and what exactly their purpose is.  Before, not after.

4(d)  Why they threw this in there I will never know.  The team will double check who you are and what is being done?  Why would this have to be listed?  Oh, the patient might OBJECT to this?  Are you kidding me?  I'm really not understanding why this is mentioned. 

Sickening is how I view this kind of subterfuge by medical treatment center.  Taking an already injured or diseased person and having them sign away all their rights by deliberately circumventing the law is beyond nasty.  How do they get away with this?  These people are turning the law on its head.  This is not patient protection, this is patient abuse.  Yeah, here you go, sign this to deliberately defy patient law.  We don't want to comply with the law and we want you to sign this waiver and hold-harmless document so that we don't have to!  This has nothing in it to protect the patient, but everything in it to protect medical workers as they indulge in a little illegal behavior.  (What do we call people who break federal law, boys and girls?  That's right, FELONS!)

What patient would even notice this?  Or know that they were giving away all their rights?  The people who are charged with following the law as it pertains to THEIR PROFESSION should know the laws.  (and apparently they do as judged by the specific taking away of certain rights as shown here...)  Just like I don't expect everybody to know the law as it pertains to my job, why should patients be expected to know the law as it pertains to medical treatment?  That's the medical professionals job!  Instead of figuring out how to get away with violating the law, maybe they should apply themselves to conforming with the law.  Ya think?