Failure to Gain Informed Consent
Patients who receive medical treatment must first give their doctors their informed consent. When a patient gives his or her informed consent, it means that he or she fully realizes the risks of a given procedure, treatment, or medication and waives the doctor’s liability as long as the treatment is performed correctly.
When a doctor fails to gain informed consent and a patient passes away as a result of mistreatment, the doctor may be liable for this terrible act of negligence. If someone you love passed away because of a doctor’s failure to gain informed consent, contact the Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., today at 610-667-7511.
Dangers of Failing to Gain Informed Consent
Informed consent requires patients to fully understand the risks associated with their procedures. Patients who are coerced or tricked into consent have not actually given their true informed consent. The dangers of a doctor who fails to gain informed consent include:
- Acting against the patient’s will
- Failing to learn of any conditions the patient had not revealed to that point
- Failing to identify a potential drug interaction
When a doctor is unaware of these potential hazards, he or she may administer a treatment that results in the patient’s death. Families of such victims may be entitled to financial compensation on the grounds of wrongful death.
Contact Us
Doctors who fail to gain informed consent should not go unpunished when their patients pass away. If your loved one died because of a doctor failed to fully inform your loved one of a procedure’s risks or gain his or her consent, please contact the Pennsylvania wrongful death attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 610-667-7511 today.