Recently, a woman in Philadelphia recovered over one million dollars after her doctors performed two surgeries that left her paralyzed in her right arm. Yet, the jury did not find that the doctors had been negligent. So, what did they do wrong?

What the jury found was that the doctors had not given her all the information she needed to make a rational, informed decision to have the surgery. This is called informed consent. A doctor must inform you about everything that they intend to do to you before they do it and what the dangers of those procedures are.

For example, if you are going to have open-heart surgery, the doctor must tell you how they intend to perform the surgery and what the risks of that surgery could be.

If the doctor tells you that he or she will personally perform the surgery, an assistant cannot perform that surgery. Armed with a complete knowledge of all the risks and possible outcomes, you can then make the decision about your medical treatment that is right for you. Without this information you cannot. It is illegal for a doctor not to give you this information.