What the Heck is a Generic Medical Release Form?

Sooner or later, you will be asked to sign a general medical release form. This may be at the hospital, at your doctor's office, before getting a tattoo or just before participating in a dangerous sport. The form really isn't for the doctors, the nurses or even for yourself or your health. It's more for your health insurance's convenience and for the convenience of any lawyers that might be involved should your medical case ever go to court. They can be slightly altered, like a business contract can be altered, to suit many occasions where you may wind up going to the hospital.

What They Look Like

Remember as a child playing with books of Mad Libs? They featured a lot of blank spaces in sentences to make a very funny mixture. When you first take a look at a generic medical release form, it will look a lot like a longer version of a Mad Lib. There are a lot of blanks that are filled in by you, your doctor or a business establishment to help suit whatever occasion is needed.

When You Will See Them

There are many situations where you may wind up having a page full of blank spaces handed to you on a clipboard to sign. If you want to get any kind of body piercing or if you want to go horseback riding, then you usually have to sign one of these forms before you are allowed in on the fun. General medical release forms, in these cases, means that you are aware that risks can happen and that you won't sue the pants off of anybody as the result of engaging on a somewhat dangerous activity.

You will also see these forms if you are about to get major or minor surgery. They also state that you are aware that you are about to engage in an activity that in inherently risky. Many health insurance plans require you to sign these forms even if you need life-saving surgery.

But What If I Need To Sue?

Even though your signature may be on a truckload of general medical release forms, you still have the right to sue in extreme situations. For example, if you hired a horse for horseback riding, then the stable has to legally provide you with a horse safe for riding. If they give you a horse that literally eats people in the middle of a ride, then you have a very good case for suing the stable due to the loss of your pound of flesh.

But you can't sue the stable for blisters on your heels because of having to wear protective footwear. You also can't sue for destruction of your clothing should the horse slobber on you after the ride.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

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