Surgery Consent Claim
Before you can undergo any medical procedure, your doctor
will have you sign an
informed consent document. In a nutshell, an informed consent document
is a complete description of a procedure as it relates to the patient. It may seem that these documents are meant to
make sure the patient is making an informed decision, but they are really
designed to protect medical professionals from lawsuits. This does not mean, however, that if you
signed an informed consent document, you can't sue for medical malpractice. It just means that the process is a bit more
complicated.
While the details may vary, an informed consent document
should contain the following elements:
Detailed explanation of the procedure, including
side-effects
Description of the procedure's purpose
Description of the condition to be treated by
the procedure
Discussion of possible risks, including:
Preexisting conditions that might make the
procedure dangerous for this particular patient
Possible benefits of the procedure
Potential alternatives to the procedure and the
known risks and benefits associated with those alternatives
Discussion of the medical consequences of not
accepting the procedure
Explanation of possible unforeseeable risks
associated with the procedure
Acknowledgment that, should the patient choose
not to have this procedure, he or she will not be ineligible for any other
current or future health care services
The informed consent document should allow the patient to
make a reasonably well-informed decision about the procedure in question.
If a patient who has signed an informed consent document is
attempting to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit against a medical
professional, he or she must apply three standards to the medical
professional's conduct: the reasonable physician standard, the subjective
patient standard, and the reasonable person standard.
The reasonable physician standard is the course of action
that one could expect any reasonable physician in the field to take. In other words, the actions of the defendant
are compared to what other doctors might do.
If the defendant's actions are found lacking in some way, he or she does
not meet the reasonable physician standard.
The subjective patient standard concerns what the particular
patient involved in the procedure would want to know in order to make an
informed decision. Obviously, this
standard is different for every patient and this is why a physician should have
a thorough understanding of his or her patients before suggesting a risky
procedure.
The reasonable person standard simply asks whether or not
any reasonable person (not the particular patient) would have undergone the
procedure, had he or she known what was presented on the informed consent
document.
If any of these standards are not met, a medical professional
is likely susceptible to a medical malpractice lawsuit, even if an informed
consent document was signed. As you
might expect, all these standards make medical malpractice suits extremely
complex. If you attempt to bring a
medical malpractice suit without an experienced attorney, you may quickly find
yourself overwhelmed.
Fortunately, our medical malpractice attorneys have twenty
years of experience working with victims of medical malpractice and we know how
to make medical professionals take responsibility for their mistakes. If you are filing a medical malpractice
claim, let a
Dallas medical malpractice attorney from Grossman Law Offices make sure
you get the compensation you deserve.
Medical malpractice litigation process
Informed consent document
Medical malpractice claim process
Questions answered in this article:
What is surgical consent?
Should I get another doctor's opinion regarding my surgical injury?