Whether you are a patient at a civilian hospital or a military hospital, you have a right to know about the risks associated with specific medical procedures. You also have a right to know who will be performing the procedure. Likewise, civilian and military doctors have an obligation to inform you about the risks.
A patient’s approval of a medical procedure is known as informed consent, and if a doctor carries out a medical procedure without securing informed consent from the patient, the result can be a form of medical malpractice called medical battery.
Medical battery is defined as the intentional violation of a patient’s right to direct his or her medical treatment.
Even if you signed a consent form, you may still be entitled to compensation if medical negligence caused an injury or illness.
These types of legal claims can arise under numerous circumstances, including:
- A medical procedure performed on the basis of a misdiagnosis
- Performing a surgery that isn’t specified on an informed consent document
- The precise limitations of the informed consent document are not clear
- Surgery performed to treat a previously unidentified problem without specific consent
- Surgery performed on the wrong body part
The process for a military medical malpractice claim is different than the process for civil medical malpractice claims.
Military and VA medical negligence claims are handled under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). You can see our previous post to learn more: “Steps for a Military Medical Malpractice Claim.”
At the Law Office of Jeffrey C. Anderson, we handle medical malpractice cases stemming from lack of informed consent at military and VA hospitals.
