Evaluating the consent documents provided to a patient before a surgery, the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission observed that the ophthalmic surgeon failed to disclose risks and potential complications to a patient who subsequently lost her vision post surgery in 2011.“…opposite party is guilty of deficiency in service in not obtaining a proper and valid informed consent from the complainant before subjecting her to the surgery in question,” the state consumer commission said in its March order . Ordering Dr Ashok T Bhole to pay a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh to Dombivli resident Rajani Malik, the commission held that being content with a bare signature on a pre-printed consent form did not satisfy the requirements of proper authorisation.The commission further held that had the complainant been told that the surgery could result in permanent loss of vision, or even loss of the eye, it could not be said that she would still have agreed to undergo it at the doctor’s hands. “By failing to inform her [Malik] of this risk and merely obtaining her signature on a printed form, the opposite party has not discharged his duty of disclosure. This, in our view, clearly amounts to deficiency in service,” the commission said.