Every patient has the right to know about and fully understand any medical treatment that they will be undergoing.  This includes all risks and possible side effects.  The process of a doctor explaining the details of a medical procedure is what’s known as informed consent.  If informed consent is neglected and something goes wrong, the patient may have a medical malpractice claim on their hands.

For example, if a patient is considering a surgery that happens to carry with it the possibility of blindness, it is imperative that the doctor make this risk clear prior to scheduling and performing the procedure.  This allows the patient the ability to make an informed decision as to whether or not they are willing to take that risk and move forward with the surgery.

If the doctor fails to properly inform his patient, and the surgery results in blindness, even if it was not caused by negligence, it can still be considered malpractice.

Anyone who suffers harm from a medical procedure for which they were not properly informed beforehand should consider their rights.  Medical attorneys are familiar with informed consent cases and can provide advice on whether a claim exists and should be pursued.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Medical Malpractice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.