Understanding Informed Consent in New Jersey Hospitals
Before you undergo a procedure, your treating provider must discuss the risks, benefits, and alternative options. This should be an open conversation between you and your provider, allowing you to clarify any parts of a procedure you don’t understand. If your doctor does not review the known risks of a treatment or fails to honor your values, then your informed consent has not been obtained.
Our Cherry Hill medical malpractice lawyers at Ginsberg & O’Connor know the injuries that can result from a lack of informed consent, and we have successfully advocated for injured patients.
What is Informed Consent?
Informed consent is when a healthcare professional educates a patient about the benefits and known risks of a test or treatment. This is an open dialogue between a healthcare provider and patient, which permits the patient to ask any questions related to the procedure. The doctor is responsible for discussing all medically reasonable courses of treatment, including non-treatment.
The provider should discuss alternative treatments that can be explored instead of surgery. All alternatives should be brought up, including those the doctor recommends as well as those that are medically reasonable (but not necessarily recommended).
A patient’s values and religion should always be respected, even if a patient chooses an alternative that may not necessarily be the provider’s first choice. As long as a patient is competent to make an informed decision, a healthcare professional must honor it.
What Types of Procedures Require Informed Consent?
Generally, the following tests and procedures require informed consent:
- Anesthesia
- Biopsies
- Blood transfusions
- Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation
- Childbirth interventions, including forceps delivery and episiotomy
- Clinical trials
- Genetic testing
- Medical implants
- Any surgical operations
- Treatments with high-risk medications, such as opioids
- Tests or procedures that go inside your body, such as an endoscopy
Legal Options if You Did Not Provide Informed Consent
If your treating physician failed to inform you of known risks or alternative approaches and you suffered harm, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim. A physician who fails to provide the major facets of a test or procedure has breached their ethical and legal duties. Generally, a claim can be pursued if you can show that knowing about a certain risk would have caused you to change your mind about having the procedure.
Under New Jersey law, you have two years from the date of injury to file a malpractice claim. The two-year legal “clock” does not start until you have become aware of or should have become aware of your injuries. So, if you undergo surgery and symptoms present four weeks after the procedure, the statute of limitations will not begin until the date that your symptoms began.
Gathering Evidence to Establish Your Claim
At Ginsberg & O’Connor, our legal team will conduct an independent investigation to determine whether your provider deviated from the acceptable standard of care. In malpractice claims involving lack of informed consent, evidence may include pre-surgery notes, your signed consent form, and other medical records. Our legal team will review the consent forms for any missing information.
If possible, keep a journal of your medical appointments, or even record them (with your doctor’s permission, of course). If you would like someone to review your potential malpractice claim, our Cherry Hill medical malpractice lawyers are happy to help.
Reach Out to Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today
If you suffered harm during a procedure, not knowing all of the risks involved, you may have the components of a medical malpractice claim. At Ginsberg & O’Connor, our team of legal professionals is committed to helping injured individuals recover the entirety of their physical, financial, and emotional damages. To arrange your free initial consultation with one of our Cherry Hill medical malpractice attorneys, contact us online or by calling (856) 727-1991 at your earliest opportunity.