Informed Consent Case Study

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The case of Informed Consent in Louisiana took place on October 10, 1997. The case involves the plaintiff, Milton Lugenbuhl, and the defendant, Dr. James Dowling (Informed, 2002). The case was located at the Supreme Court of Louisiana. The plaintiff, Mr. Milton Lugenbuhl, filed an action against Dr. Dowling for claims based on medical malpractice, and on lack of proper informed consent (Informed, 2002). Lugenbuhl alleged that Dr. Dowling had failed to use mesh to repair a cardiac incisional hernia in 1987, and that it caused a subsequent herniation in 1988, and caused further surgery (Informed, 2002). The jury found that Dr. Dowling was liable for damages based on medical malpractice and failure to obtain informed consent (Informed, 2002). …show more content…

Under this doctrine, the patient is entitled to sufficient information to allow him or her to make an informed decision on whether or not to consent or decline treatment (Thornton, 2000). Physicians are required to give reasonable disclosures to their patients regarding the risks involved with treatments (Thornton, 2000). Patients need to be given enough information to be completely informed before deciding to undergo treatment, and the informed consent must be documented in writing (Practical, 2007). The importance of the doctrine of informed consent is giving the patient adequate information about treatments in order for them to make an informed decision regarding receiving or declining procedures. The patient needs to be aware of procedures, risks, and alternatives in order to form a proper …show more content…

This could occur because liability issues involving insufficient consent are more commonly analyzed under negligence or other faults (Informed, 2002). Even though the performance of a medical procedure without obtaining proper informed consent, in the absence of an emergency situation, usually constitutes battery (Informed, 2002). The article (2002), states that the problem with informed consent is that one of professional responsibility, not intentional wrongdoing, and can be handled more adequately with the framework of negligence. Claims against physicians involving health care liability or medical malpractice claims based on failure to obtain informed consent are consider negligence in failure to disclose risks or hazards that a reasonable person could have used to make an informed decision (Informed, 2002). Due to this, the article (2002) states that courts favor liability based breach of disclosing material information rather than battery-based. More courts have turned to the theory of negligence as a basis for cases involving informed

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