Consent Forms and Medical Liability

Answer:

In the context of medical malpractice cases, we often get the question, “What if I signed a consent form for the treatment or the surgery and, during that treatment or surgery, a complication arose? Does my signing that consent mean that I can’t pursue a medical liability claim against the doctor, hospital or surgery center that might be involved in this and might have legal liability?” The short answer to that question is no, not necessarily.

The consent form is designed to make sure that you, as the patient, have fully understood all the risks of that procedure and that you’re making a voluntary decision to pursue and go forward with that treatment or that surgery that’s been recommended to you. Ultimately, in making that decision and when weighing the risks, the questions center on the potential benefits of that procedure or treatment and whether or not they outweigh the risks of what could happen during procedure or even after that procedure in terms of complications. Those risks might involve bleeding, for example, if it’s a surgery. They might involve infection, and they could potentially involve death or other types of things that can go wrong during a surgical procedure.

The key component here for you is to understand this: Consent forms do not act as a waiver of liability or a release or an advanced release of liability for the doctor or medical facility or hospital that is providing that treatment or that procedure. They do apprise you of those risks. The real question is, did the doctor, hospital, or nursing staff adhere to the professional prevailing standard of care in providing that treatment to you? If they didn’t adhere to that standard of care and that resulted in a complication that should not have occurred to you during that procedure, or, if they didn’t adhere to the standard of care in treating a recognized compensation that could not have been avoided, then you would have the right to pursue a medical liability claim.

As I said, these are complex cases. These are cases that, many times, end up with very, very serious injuries, sometimes even death. They require a lot of analysis. We look at these cases very carefully. We have the best experts review these cases to determine if they are meritorious or not. If they are indeed meritorious, then we hold those accountable for those injuries that could have been avoided had the professional prevailing standard of care been adhered to.

If you have any questions about a medical liability claim or questions about the signing of a consent form, please give us a call here at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys. We will walk you through that process and make sure that you make an informed decision for you and your family.