The “assumption of risk” in a medical malpractice case is a legally recognized defense, one of potentially several, which the healthcare provider will try to raise in responding to a complaint for professional negligence against him. When a person voluntarily and knowingly proceeds to engage in an activity that poses obvious and known dangers that person will be said to have “assumed the risk” that some kind of injury could result from his decision to proceed with the actions and he cannot later complain if he does then suffer the threatened injury.
No Patient Assumes the Risk He Will Be Given Negligent Care or Treatment
Signing a doctor’s informed consent documents before entering on a course for treatment can lead patients to conclude that they have no standing to sue if they have been injured by the care that they received because they agreed that they were informed that problems could arise due to the treatment. The important point to understand is that there is a difference between a “bad outcome” and “bad acts” leading to injury by a healthcare provider. A bad outcome happens where a patient receives the best medical and surgical care and yet there is an unfortunate result from the treatment instead of the envisioned medical miracle. A bad result is that unpredictable element of chance that comes into play such that the procedure for no reason connected with the treatment regimen itself did not produce the desired results. In sharp contrast, a “bad act” in the provision of medical care and treatment is an act or failure to act by a healthcare provider that fails beneath the standard of care generally provided in similar situations by a competent healthcare provider is an act of professional negligence. No patient is asked to give informed consent assuming the risk that they will be given negligent treatment by their healthcare provider.
Getting Legal Help
If you or a member of your family has been injured by medical care and treatment of a healthcare provider it may be helpful to discuss the circumstance of the injury with a medical malpractice attorney. An attorney can review the medical records and any related documentation and provide valuable advice in determining if the injury was the result of actionable professional negligence or just a bad medical outcome. If your injury resulted from professional negligence an attorney can take the steps need to preserve and protect the patient’s rights by filing a lawsuit against that healthcare provider.
