This lecture is based on Janet L. Dolgin's paper The legal development of the informed consent doctrine: past and present (Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 2010).
In short: the so-called "lawyerization of medicine" transformed the doctor-patient relationship by requiring respect for patient autonomy, but it has also produced excesses that can undermine trust.
Where it comes from
Courts usually trace it back to Schloendorff v. The Society of the New York Hospital (1914). The lecture revisits that case, which Mary Schloendorff ultimately lost, and how judges have invoked it since.
The current debate
The author discusses the requirement to disclose provider-specific information. Such a rule would stretch the doctrine beyond its original bounds and could undermine even minimal forms of trust. Controlling these excesses depends on the law not creating rules that weaken trust in the name of autonomy.