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Violation Of Patient Consent

Medical malpractice often means that a doctor acted negligently or did something wrong. While this is often the result of a doctor prescribing the wrong dosage of medication or failing to diagnose a condition properly, medical negligence lawsuits can also stem from instances in which a doctor performed a treatment without a patient’s permission. If you were treated by a doctor without your permission, causing you harm, the knowledgeable Toledo medical malpractice attorneys at Williams DeClark Tuschman Co. L.P.A. can represent your interests and fight in pursuit of deserved compensation on your behalf.

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More than half a billion dollars recovered in verdicts and settlements
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Call 419-719-5195 to schedule a free consultation today and discuss your legal options.

Express Vs. Implied Consent

Doctors and health care providers must receive a patient’s consent before treating them. Consent can take two different forms: express and implied. Exactly as it sounds, express consent is the act of a patient specifically providing permission, oftentimes in writing, to a particular treatment. This type of consent is required for surgeries and involves the doctor or nurse presenting the patient with a list of potential complications that could present themselves during the operation. Surgeries may not be completed unless this form is signed and the patient is sufficiently informed of the risks. Implied consent, on the other hand, means that consent is assumed given the circumstances. For example, if a person sees their doctor and receives a flu shot at their doctor’s suggestion, they have given their consent to receiving the shot without the need for any sort of express signature or statement. Similarly, doctors reserve the right to treat unconscious patients in emergency situations where no medical proxy is present.

Grounds For Lack Of Consent Injury Claims

Lack of consent claims often apply in situations when a doctor inadvertently performs surgery on the wrong body part or decides to perform an additional nonemergency surgery when the patient had only consented to one procedure on their consent form. Lack of consent claims can also be related to instances in which a complication occurs during surgery that was not listed as a possible risk on the consent form, the complication was far more common than the patient was made to believe, or the doctor’s description of potential complications contradicted what was stated on the consent form.

Consent violations can take two forms:

Failure to recognize a complication: While not every single complication can be foreseen, complications that are rare but well-known enough to be discussed in medical literature must be listed on consent forms.
Improper description of a complication: Consent forms must accurately portray the chances a patient will experience a certain complication. For example, if a person experiences a complication that is known to occur 10% of the time during surgery, but the consent form erroneously stated that the complication only affected 1% of patients, the patient may argue that they would not have undergone the procedure if the odds were accurately represented.

Individuals who are treated without proper consent and harmed due to this treatment may have grounds to file a civil claim against the doctor, the hospital, or both in pursuit of compensation for their resulting medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and rehabilitation costs. If you have been a victim of violation of patient consent, we urge you to contact our knowledgeable attorneys as soon as possible to discuss your options and determine the most appropriate course of action to pursue.

Get A Trusted Medical Malpractice Attorney On Your Side

At Williams DeClark Tuschman Co. L.P.A., we understand the frustrations and agony you must be experiencing and we are prepared to explore every opportunity to secure the financial recovery you deserve. Our experienced litigators have fought and won on behalf of countless clients and have what it takes to assert your rights during this difficult time. Nobody should be forced to live with the consequences of a negligent doctor’s actions. Let our Toledo medical malpractice lawyers fight to protect your rights and ensure that no one else should have to suffer a similar fate.