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If you suffered injuries or experienced complications from a surgery that went wrong, you may want to pursue a medical malpractice claim against your providers to recover compensation and accountability for your losses. But can you file a malpractice claim if you signed a consent form before the surgery?
What a Consent Form Means
In the healthcare industry, medical providers have patients sign consent forms to document the fact that the provider has obtained the patient’s informed consent for a procedure or course of treatment. Informed consent requires a provider to explain the benefits and risks of a proposed procedure or treatment and discuss alternatives and those alternatives’ pros and cons compared to the recommended procedure or treatment.
A consent form may describe the known potential complications of a procedure or treatment and include an acknowledgement section for the patient to acknowledge the possible risks and authorize the provider to provide such treatment. However, a consent form does not excuse a provider’s negligent care or constitute a patient’s waiver of a potential malpractice claim.
When a Signed Consent Form Doesn’t Protect a Doctor or Hospital
A patient’s consent form does not protect a doctor or healthcare facility from a malpractice claim arising from a provider’s negligent care. For example, a patient may still have a malpractice claim for a surgery that goes wrong due to:
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Leaving surgical equipment inside the patient’s body
- Failing to monitor the patient’s condition during the surgery
A signed consent form may protect a healthcare provider from a malpractice claim alleging that the provider performed a procedure without the patient’s consent. However, patients may still have informed consent claims after signing a consent form when:
- A provider fails to advise the patient of significant risks, and the patient would not have consented to the procedure had they known of those risks
- The provider gives false or misleading information about a procedure or alternative treatments
- The patient is misled about what the form is about, was prevented from reading the form, signs the form after the procedure, or the patient has already had anesthesia injected
Your Legal Rights After a Botched Surgery
You may have a malpractice claim after a botched surgery when the injury or complications you suffered arose due to a practitioner’s negligent errors in performing the procedure, rather than from a known, accepted risk, or if you suffered complications from a risk not disclosed to you by the provider, and you would not have proceeded with the surgery had you known about the risk.
In a medical malpractice claim, you may have the right to recover compensation for various losses caused by your injury or complications, including:
- Costs of additional medical treatment needed for injuries or complications
- Additional missed time from work to recover from injuries or complications caused by a botched surgery
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Extra pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life due to disabilities or permanent disfigurement/scarring
What to Do If You Think Malpractice Occurred
If you think your surgical team may have committed an error during your procedure that harmed you, steps you can take to protect your rights and interests include:
- Obtain copies of your medical records and records of your surgery, including video recordings or provider notes
- Document your pain, symptoms, complications, or challenges during your recovery
- Obtain a second opinion from another physician to confirm that you have suffered complications from the surgery
- Consult a medical malpractice attorney to determine whether you have a viable claim
Contact Lance Ehrenberg, Esq. or The Law Firm of Lawrence M. Karam, PC. Today
If you experienced complications during surgery, experienced legal counsel can help you understand the implications of the consent forms you signed prior to the procedure. Contact Dental & Podiatry Malpractice Lawyers of New York today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a medical malpractice attorney to discuss your legal options for seeking compensation for your losses after a surgical error.