December 7, 2010

Omissions and Misinterpretation In Many Informed Consent Discussions

Many people are aware that their doctors must get their informed consent before proceeding with any course of medical treatment. The logic behind the requirement is clear. Patients have the right to understand the options in front of them, the risks of a course of action, and other important information before allowing a medical professional to take action. After all it is the patient and their family that will personally suffer the consequences of all medical decisions.

However, new research out of the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that all too often doctors fail to share proper information and correct patient misinterpretations in informed consent discussions.

The research focused on informed consent conversations for patients that are asked to participate in clinical trials. The study involved taping many conversations between oncologists and cancer patients regarding informed consent. Both the professional and patient then filled out questionnaires about the discussion and their knowledge of what took place. The results reveal some problems.

Researchers found that the discussion of the patient’s prognosis was often lacking. Also, alternative care plans were infrequently mentioned, and patients appeared to misinterpret the options in front of them. Patients also left the discussion with little information about available supportive care choices.

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Posted In: Lack of Informed Consent

September 17, 2010

Hospital Mistakenly Circumcises Newborn Boy

A new lawsuit was filed yesterday after an egregious medical mistake put a newborn son under the knife against the express wishes of the baby’s mother. According the to Miami Herald, Vera Delgado was shocked and disgusted when she learned that her 8 day old son was circumcised without her consent and against her express wishes told to doctors.

Vera gave birth to her son, Mario, in late July. Mario had medical problems in his first few days alive, so doctors kept him in the intensive care unit to help fight an infection. Previously, Vera had specifically refused to sign a consent form for circumcision, telling doctors that she did not want Mario to have the procedure. No male in her family had had the operation in generations.

However, a few days after his death, Vera walked into his room and noticed a vial lying next to the baby’s bed. She questioned a nurse about it who told her it that was Tylenol to help Mario with the pain caused by his circumcision.

Vera was obviously upset, explaining, “I didn’t want this for him. I’m opposed to circumcision. They didn’t have the right to do it.”

Hospital officials have admitted the error, explaining that they had inadequate procedures in place to check on the consent forms. Apparently, an employee misread the unsigned consent form in Mario’s case, which led to the unwanted procedure. Hospital officials have called it “an unfortunate mistake.”

Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand the immense frustration that must arise when specific medical wishes are ignored by negligent hospitals. One of the most basic rights afforded to all patients is the ability to make informed decisions about their own bodies, which includes a mother’s right to make health choices for her newborn child. If you or anyone you know have not been properly consulted or given inadequate medical information before a medical procedure has been performed, please contact an attorney to learn more about your rights as a patient.

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Posted In: Lack of Informed Consent

July 26, 2010

Jury Finds Surgeon Negligent in Medical Malpractice Case

A Rhode Island jury recently awarded slightly less than $1 million to a woman plagued by the consequences of negligent medical treatment. The Providence Journal reported on the decision reached last week which returned a medical malpractice verdict against podiatric surgeon James McCormick.

The victim, Christ B. Durant, receive an operation on her big toe at Dr. McCormick’s facility in June 2005. The doctor’s negligence during the operation had severe consequences for Ms. Durant, resulting in intense pain and the need for additional surgery to correct the medical error.

Besides the errors during the procedure, the medical malpractice lawsuit also challenged Dr. McCormick’s failure to obtain informed consent on Ms. Durant before performing the operation. In medical situations, doctors are typically required to obtain the consent of their patients before performing certain procedures. However, to protect patients’ rights, doctors are further required to ensure that the consent that obtained is “informed.” Informed consent can only be given when the doctor properly makes the patient aware of the risks and potential consequences of any procedure. That way, the patient is able to fairly weigh her options before allowing the doctor to proceed.

The informed consent requirement is a logical, necessary step to ensure that medical patients receive the care to which they are entitled. That is especially true in surgical cases, as all patients deserve to be made aware of potential risks before allowing a doctor to perform the invasive, potentially deadly medical actions.

Our medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti understand the importance of proper medical care and informed medical decisions. All patients deserve that minimum level of care, and have the right to seek compensation when they receive less than that standard. Please contact our offices to learn more about your options if you or someone you know suffered similar negligent medical care.

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Posted In: Lack of Informed Consent

April 27, 2010

Father Files Lawsuit Claiming He Never Gave Consent for Son’s Surgery

A father has filed a $19 million medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital and two doctors, claiming that he never consented to his son’s surgery. This surgery ended with his sixth month old son having permanent brain damage. Originally, the father was told that it was a minor small surgery shortly after his son was transferred to a new hospital. He was only warned that a small infection could be a complication, and this would be treated with antibiotics. However, the victim’s father still said he refused consent. Despite this answer, the doctors still operated on the young boy, leaving him brain damaged.

Hospital officials are stating that the father gave verbal consent, yet investigators have not found any hospital documentation to support this assertion. Furthermore, the baby was scheduled for morning surgery, yet doctors postponed it until later in the afternoon citing an inability to obtain consent. When the father refused, the doctor told him to return to the hospital for further discussion. Still the father is claiming that he refused surgery because he was nervous about the procedure’s use of anesthesia. He also was not offered a Spanish interpreter, despite the fact that he only speaks Spanish. Following the surgery, the baby had become dependent on a ventilator and feeding tube. He had entered the hospital on a nasal breathing tube. The father believes that this is due to his son’s reaction to anesthesia. His son’s nursing care now costs costs $1,100 a month. To read more about the consent lawsuit, please click the link.

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Posted In: Anesthesia Injury, Lack of Informed Consent

June 2, 2009

Man Sues Hospital over Larynx Injury

A man alleges a hospital committed medical malpractice when performing surgery on his larynx. He is now suing them for allegedly causing him permanent damage. His injuries include vocal chord paralysis, difficulty breathing, and damage to the laryngeal nerve as a result of a posterior cervical fusion operation. The causes of action in his complaint against the hospital and doctors who performed his surgery are lack of informed consent and professional negligence.

Read more about the medical malpractice suit here.

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Posted In: Surgical Error, Lack of Informed Consent

November 18, 2008

Transplant Patient Files Medical Malpractice Suit After Getting HIV

A 33 year old woman recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the University of Chicago Medical Center alleging she contracted HIV and Hepatitis C after receiving a kidney transplant. According to the lawsuit, the woman claims U of C failed to warn her that her donor was a gay man with multiple sexual partners. Lawyers for the transplant patient claim the hospital was negligent, because it knew the donor engaged in homosexual activity, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention label “high risk behavior.” Had she been informed of the high risks associated with a gay donor, the patient states she would not have received the transplant. Since the negligent transplant, the woman has rejected the new kidney and has stopped working because of her illness. Three other patients who received organs from the same donor have also tested positive for HIV. To read the full story, click here.

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Posted In: Infections, Transplant Error, Lack of Informed Consent

October 31, 2008

Study Finds that Half of US Doctors are Prescribing Placebos to Patients Without their Knowledge

A study published last week in the British Medical Journal finds that half of US doctors prescribe placebos to their patients, instead of drugs necessary for their treatment. These placebos, the survey explains, are sometimes vitamins or drugs that will not help the patients’ conditions. Moreover, the survey finds that many of the physicians are engaging in these practices without the knowledge of their patients, contravening American Medical Association recommendations, which advocate that patients be given full knowledge of treatments that they are given, and potentially constituting medical malpractice.

Patients have the right to determine what they want they want done to their bodies. Before administering treatment or performing a medical procedure, a physician is required to provide his or her patient with adequate information about the treatment or procedure and the risks and benefits associated with it in order for the patient to give his or her informed consent. Failing to provide this information results in a lack of informed consent. If this failure causes the patient to suffer a personal injury or death, the doctor can be found liable for medical malpractice.

For the full story, click here.

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Posted In: Drug and Pharmacy Errors, Current Issues, Lack of Informed Consent

October 15, 2008

Chicago Surgeon Involved in Lawsuit for Inventing Heart Device and Implanting it in Patient Without Consent

A Chicago surgeon is being sued after implanting a device which he invented in a patient, allegedly without consent. The device, a Myxo ETlogix annuloplasty ring, was implanted in the patient in April 2006 by Dr. Patrick McCarthy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to fix the patient’s leaky heart valve. Dr. McCarthy developed the heart device and receives royalties for its sale, which are donated to a charity. In July, a research paper by Dr. McCarthy was published in a medical journal. The article was based on a study that included the patient and focused on the initial experience with the device. Dr. McCarthy stated that the patient had consented to participate in the study. The patient said that she would not have consented to the use of an experimental device. The doctor denies that the device was experimental but failed to inform the patient that he had invented the ring before proceeding with the implantation. According to medical ethics experts, a patient should be informed if a surgeon will receive royalties on a device that he or she may use in surgery and a patient must agree to take part in medical research, by signing an informed consent form his or her to their involvement in the study.

The patient experienced inflammation following the implantation, was required to undergo a second surgery to remove the device, and is now confronted with the possibility of needing a heart transplant. She filed a lawsuit in Cook County this April against McCarthy, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Edwards Lifesciences, the device’s manufacturer.

The FDA has received 10 reports on adverse events related to the Myxo ETlogix ring and an investigation is currently underway to determine whether the agency received proper notice about the device.

For the full story, click here.

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Posted In: Medical Devices, Surgical Error, Lack of Informed Consent, Product Liability

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The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

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