Does a physician have a duty to advise a patient about alternative treatments and the risk of doing nothing?

We find no merit in the contention. There is no absolute requirement that a physician advise a patient about alternative treatments and the risk of doing nothing. Rather, when those elements of informed consent are pertinentthat is, when doing nothing is a realistic alternative and when there are reasonable alternatives to the proposed procedurethe duty to advise with respect to these issues is included within the general requirement that a physician provide all material information. (Schiff v. Prados (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 692, 701.) When there are no reasonable alternatives, there is similarly no duty to advise with respect to them. (Ibid.)