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Free ConsultationEvery physician who establishes a doctor–patient relationship with you must abide by the same standard of care that any other equally qualified physician would demonstrate. As part of this, your doctors must ensure that you understand the treatment options available, inform you about the risks and side effects associated with each option, and allow you to choose what type of medical care you receive, if any.
If your doctor did not properly inform you about the potential downsides of a medication or medical procedure, you may have grounds to seek civil restitution for any injuries and losses you experienced from those undisclosed side effects. Harrisburg failure to warn medical malpractice cases are difficult to pursue alone, and you will likely struggle to achieve a favorable outcome. You should strongly consider seeking the support of one of our experienced surgical malpractice attorneys from Lowenthal & Abrams as early as possible in your legal proceedings.
What Is “Informed Consent” for Medical Procedures?
Before providing medical treatment, doctors are required by law to obtain “informed consent” from the patient or from the minor patient’s parent or legal guardian. In addition to disclosing possible unwanted or dangerous effects of the treatment, obtaining informed consent also involves taking all the following steps:
- Explaining the expected benefits of each treatment option
- Providing details about what post-treatment actions may be necessary to maximize the efficacy of a procedure
- Providing an estimate for when the patient should see positive—or negative—effects of a procedure
- Explaining possible alternative treatments, especially for non-life-threatening conditions
- Communicating the financial costs associated with each treatment option
- Accurately describing the urgency of seeking treatment for a particular condition to avoid long-term or life-threatening harm
You may have grounds to file a failure to warn medical negligence claim in Harrisburg if you received all the aforementioned information but did not give informed consent to a procedure and experienced adverse effects that you were not warned about.
Holding Doctors and Hospitals Liable for Failure To Warn
Failure to obtain informed consent prior to a medical procedure can often be traceable back to one specific doctor not fulfilling the standard of care expected of them. However, it is common for multiple communication failures between members of a medical team to result in a patient undergoing a potentially dangerous medical procedure without being fully aware of their treatment options.
In both scenarios, it may be possible to claim that the Harrisburg hospital or medical organization that employed the negligent doctor(s) is “vicariously liable” for their employee’s failure to warn you about the dangers of a procedure. Our legal team can go into further detail during a private consultation about who you may name as a defendant in your unique medical malpractice case.
Contact Our Firm To Pursue a Failure To Warn Medical Negligence Claim in Harrisburg
Informed consent is an essential component of ethical medical care, no matter what type of care you are receiving or what kind of problem you need treatment for. You may suffer serious or even life-altering harm simply because your doctor did not obtain your informed consent before providing a treatment.
Fortunately, you can demand comprehensive compensation for damages you experienced under these circumstances. Harrisburg failure to warn medical malpractice cases are far more likely to succeed if you have an experienced attorney supporting you through the process. Call Lowenthal & Abrams today to learn more about your legal rights and options.
