Whenever a patient submits to an operation, there should be an informed consent form for that patient to sign. The form should lay out the risks of the procedure, or at a minimum should acknowledge that the physician has informed the patient of the risks.
If a patient is not informed of the known risks of a procedure to the extent that he/she is deprived of the chance to knowingly decide whether or not the take the risk, there may be a potential medical malpractice action when one of the risks occurs.
Medical ethics dictates that physicians in research hospitals explain the experimental nature of new procedures to patients. Ethics also expects that when physicians have a financial stake in the research performed on human experiment subjects, the physician disclose that stake to the patient.
Most people blindly trust their doctors to work for their best interest, and put the individual patient’s life above their research, personal comfort and financial gain. When doctors betray this trust, there is the potential for not only medical malpractice lawsuits, but also for civil lawsuits based on the physician committing an assault (or an unwanted and offensive touching of the patient without the patient’s consent).
If you have had a procedure that has gone wrong and your doctor didn’t inform you of the risks, contact Studnicki Law Firm for a free consultation today.
