Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital affirms a patient's right to consent to surgery.
Date: 1914
The case states: “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.”
However, in practice, "informed consent" largely applies to white men and, sometimes, white women.