What is Informed Consent?
If you believe that your doctor committed medical malpractice and did not provide a full explanation before obtaining your consent to a procedure and you were harmed in the procedure, surgery, or other treatment, then you may be able to pursue a medical malpractice claim that includes failure to obtain informed consent.
Some things to consider about what happened to you include:
What does Tennessee law require be disclosed to a patient?
The nature of the patient’s condition;
The nature of the recommended surgical procedure or treatment;
The risks of the procedure or surgery as determined by your doctor; and
The reasonable therapeutic alternative to the proposed treatment or surgery and the risks associated with those alternatives.
What risks should your doctor have disclosed to you?
Your doctor should disclose risks that are considered important as determined by what risks a reasonable person would consider important in making the decision about whether to proceed with the recommended treatment or surgery or forego it in lieu of another option.
When is informed consent not required?
In an emergency situation, there may not be time for a doctor to describe the potential risks of the treatment that is deemed necessary for the patient, usually in a situation where the procedure is required to save the life of the patient. Under these circumstances, the patient cannot pursue a medical malpractice action, even if the patient would not have provided the consent if he or she had been given the choice.
Are there other circumstances under which informed consent may not be necessary?
In the very rare case where the patient is deemed to be so emotionally fragile that the doctor reasonably believes that he or she would not consent to a life-saving procedure, the doctor may be justified in withholding some of the more frightening details and discussing the risks in broader terms. A patient who suffers from extreme anxiety may fall within this classification. This is a very unusual situation.
What happens when the doctor performs another procedure while completing the action to which the patient consented?
If a patient consents to having the doctor operate to remove a damaged spleen and discovers another serious medical condition that can be corrected while the patient is undergoing the initial surgery, then the doctor may not be liable for any wrongdoing if the additional procedure is a success and the medical need was compelling.
If the patient was a minor or was cognitively impaired, can informed consent be given?
In a case where a person lacking the capacity to consent to a particular treatment requires the medical care, the informed consent typically must be given by the guardian of the child or the impaired individual. There are limited exceptions to this requirement.
All medical treatments or surgeries carry some risk; however, that risk must be explained to the patient in sufficient detail that the patient can make the decision to undergo or skip the procedure with an understanding of the risks and benefits of that decision. If you have suffered harm during a medical procedure and you did not understand the risks of the treatment or surgery because the doctor did not explain everything in sufficient detail or failed to disclose a reasonable therapeutic alternative, then you may have a case. The experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC can discuss the specifics of your case and provide you with some viable legal options during a free and confidential consultation. To schedule an appointment, please call (888) 470-9143. At Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.