Fort Smith Lack of Informed Consent Lawyers
McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm represents people in Fort Smith and across Arkansas who were harmed due to a lack of informed consent from their doctor or healthcare provider. A fundamental tenet in medicine and in the law has been stated in many landmark legal cases:
“Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body, and a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient’s consent commits an assault for which he is liable in damages.”
This concept is central to the constitutional right to privacy and is quoted from Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade. If you’ve suffered damages during a medical procedure because you were not adequately informed, you have likely been a victim of medical negligence and may be entitled to recover financially. The Fort Smith lack of informed consent attorneys with McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm can help you through this process. Contact us at (479) 783-0036 to set up your free consultation with one of our experienced lawyers.
Why Do I Need an Attorney?
Patients can suffer injury when they are subjected to medical procedures and surgeries that they either did not consent to or were not otherwise reasonably informed. If you or a loved one has suffered injury because you were not properly informed or did not give your permission to a medical procedure, you may be entitled to reclaim financial damages.
To accomplish this, you will need an experienced legal team who can successfully navigate a highly technical and complicated area that bridges medicine with the legal profession. You will need a legal team with a proven and successful track record. You need a full-fledged legal team who is staffed with medical staff who can accurately interpret all of the medical events of your case, medical investigators and a legal team who will fight for your rights. Your success depends on a firm that is capable of utilizing an interdisciplinary approach.
Why Choose Us?
McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm has litigated a wide variety of medical malpractice cases. Of importance is our experience in successfully litigating “Lack of Consent” cases. For more than 27 years, McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm has also been an active member of the Fort Smith community. Residents have come to rely on the medical malpractice experience of our firm.
Following a serious injury that results from a doctor’s negligence in failing to acquire proper consent, you are likely faced with serious alterations in your life. Most likely, you face significant financial challenges such as lost earnings and new medical expenses. Through thousands of client experiences, we truly understand what you are facing. We stand willing and capable of fighting for your rights.
We pride ourselves in serving the community where we live and have the successfully assisted those who have been injured back to health. While we may not be able to mitigate your physical injuries, we will do everything possible to be sure that your present and future expenses will be compensated and you have the funds to help with your recovery and future well-being.
What is “Lack of Consent” Malpractice?
Physicians have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide adequate information to the patient so that he or she can process the information and make appropriate decisions. An educated patient also helps the physician, both concerning cooperation in the planned intervention and in reducing frustration in case of complications. The physician who teaches and responds carefully brings the patient into the medical decision-making process, addresses the patient’s concerns, and creates reasonable expectations regarding outcomes.
The benefits of truly informed consent include:
- Protecting the patient’s right of self-determination
- Engaging the patient in his or her healthcare
- Enhancing the physician-patient relationship
- Encouraging physicians to review the patient’s therapeutic options thoroughly
- Reducing discontent and litigation when there are complications
Physician disclosure — Physicians must also disclose or answer truthfully if a patient asks questions about the number of similar procedures performed and their success rates. Failure to answer honestly may leave a physician open to claims of fraud and misrepresentation, as well as negligent nondisclosure. Such disclosures also include financial conflicts (such as ownership of a particular lab or ambulatory surgery center). It is prudent for the physician to also inform the patient of any additional procedures that may result from a surgery – such as removal of an incidental tumor.
Types of “Lack of Consent” Cases We Handle
There are primarily two types of cases involving informed consent. The first type and the one seen most frequently is the negligence case. The question is whether the patient, before giving consent, received that amount and type of information that a reasonable person would require to make an informed decision as to whether to undergo the medical procedure. If a procedure was performed, and the information provided to you was inadequate, and injury resulted as of this failure to inform, then the doctor can be held liable. Had you been given the proper information, you likely would not undergo the procedure in the first place.
The second type of case is one in which no consent was given at all, the procedure consented to was substantially different from the one you authorized, or the procedure exceeded the scope of what you agreed to. This second type of claim is litigated under an “assault and battery” theory.
Call McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm for Help
Although the theories negligence and battery seem similar in many respects, there are fundamental differences and are approached from a legal perspective very differently. Both are highly technical and require a collaborative firm with the experience to bring about a successful outcome. Remember that you may have given consent to a procedure but there are remaining issues regarding the extent and scope of your consent– and you ended up with physical damages.
The fact remains that a fundamental tenet is that you are entitled to a complete and thoroughly informative explanation of your procedure. The Fort Smith medical malpractice attorneys of McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm stand ready and well suited to fight for your rights. You may be entitled to recover all of your past and present medical expenses and lost wages. If the physician’s wrongs are particularly egregious, you may be entitled to punitive damages. We will fight to get you every cent that you deserve and need. Call us today at (479) 783-0036 for a free, confidential consultation to address all your questions and concerns.
