fukitol1215 asked:
Any one know of a web-site where I can get info on my question listed above? I need to do some resaerch for a project and could use any help I can get. Thanks a million
How does a signed consent form affect a medical malpractice case?
With signed consent the client affirms that the medical professional has fully explained the risks of a procedure BEFORE the procedure takes place
If the explanation was duly made before the procedure took place then the client can’t state they didn’t know the risks IF the malpractice falls within the risks explained to the client. In this case the client has assumed the risk.
IF the malpractice falls outside the risks explained to the client, then the medical professional may be liable for negligence (malpractice) if it can be shown that their conduct breached a standard of care for the medical profession as a whole, as pertained to the specific procedure, and that the client’s injuries were actually and proximately caused by the breach, and damages occurred.
What kind of signed consent form? Normally, an injured party who files a medical malpractice case will be subject to the discovery of all of their medical records from before and after the alleged malpractice. Some jurisdictions allow for or require that the patient sign a consent for the medical providers to release the records to the defense attorneys. Some do not and you can force them to subpoena the records. They will get the records either way, so I’m not sure that signing the consent makes a difference other than speeding the case progression by eliminating the need to go through the subpoena process.
In theory it shouldn’t make any difference at all. Without medical consent, you aren’t talking malpractice; you’re talking battery.
Malpractice should consist of several parts: (1) there must be a duty to treat; that is, there has to be a doctor-patient relationship (2) there has to be an injury (3) the injury must be caused by negligent practice, something that falls outside the realm of normal standards of care, and (4) the breach of standards must be the proximate cause of the injury.
In actual practice, where facts matter little to the lawyers or the jury, the consent forms are often used as a document to prove that there is a duty to treat, but also as a method of showing that the doctor told the patient this bad outcome can happen as a consequence of this treatment, so when it does happen, there’s no valid gripe.