As a patient at a health care center, you are entitled to certain rights. One is the right to informed consent, meaning to have all of the critical information about a procedure before you give your permission to a medical practitioner to treat you. If a doctor in Albuquerque violates your right to informed consent, you may have grounds to file an Albuquerque medical malpractice claim.
What Is Informed Consent?
Informed consent is the fundamental right that a patient has to be educated about the risks, benefits and alternatives of a proposed treatment or medical procedure before making a decision about his or her care. Health care providers have a legal and ethical obligation to educate a patient so that he or she understands the potential advantages and disadvantages of a procedure, as well as any available alternatives. That way, the patient can make his or her own choices about care without misinformation or coercion.
What Are Examples of Failure to Obtain Informed Consent?
A patient’s signature on a treatment consent form alone does not prove that the patient gave his or her informed consent. The medical provider must take the time to explain and discuss the procedure with the patient, as well as listen to and address the patient’s concerns. Any of the following could be examples of informed consent failures:
- A doctor recommends a treatment without discussing alternatives or less invasive options.
- A doctor fails to thoroughly explain what a procedure entails and what to expect during recovery.
- A doctor fails to disclose a risk that would have made the patient make a different decision had he or she known.
- A surgeon performs a different procedure than what was discussed (other than in emergencies).
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a patient’s informed consent must be obtained prior to most surgeries, advanced medical procedures, cancer treatments, high-risk treatments, vaccinations and certain blood tests. The rules are different, however, in medical emergencies.
When Can a Malpractice Claim Be Filed in New Mexico for Failure to Obtain Informed Consent?
The failure to obtain informed consent does not always give a patient the right to file a medical malpractice claim in New Mexico. Even if the patient has evidence of a lack of informed consent to a medical procedure, he or she cannot sue for medical malpractice unless the other elements of a claim exist.
There must be evidence that the health care provider fell short of the medical industry’s applicable standards of care by failing to obtain the patient’s informed consent. The applicable standard of care is what a “reasonable and prudent” medical provider would have done in similar circumstances.
In addition, the patient must have suffered actual harm as a result of the failure to obtain informed consent. The procedure to which the patient did not give informed consent, for example, must have caused real damages, such as bodily injury or death.
How a Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help You
Medical malpractice cases in New Mexico are notoriously complex. If you were harmed due to a physician’s failure to obtain your informed consent, the best way to protect your rights is by hiring a medical malpractice attorney. A lawyer can thoroughly investigate your case to search for evidence of malpractice. Then, your lawyer can guide you through the steps required to file a claim under the state’s medical malpractice laws.
You can trust your attorney to fight for maximum financial compensation on your behalf while you focus on your recovery. To discuss a specific case, contact The Fine Law Firm to request a free consultation.