Before you undergo a medical procedure, you will be asked to sign a consent form from your treating physician. The consent form will include information about the procedure and will also include a lot of legalese and clauses. What do those mean?
Medical consent forms include medical and legal content that essentially says you can’t sue the doctor, hospital, and/or medical network for complications if something goes wrong during your procedure and you’re injured. These long boiler plate non-negotiable forms are intended to appraise the patient of risks associated with the procedures performed. However, consent to a procedure is not the same as consenting to negligence.
Interpreting a Consent Form in Court
There are a number of complications that may be included with any medical procedure. For instance, a surgical complication may be stroke, which may be unpredictable and a natural consequence of a patient’s prior condition. However, there may be additional failures of the standard of care that explain the injuries sustained during a surgery. For instance, failing to remove a surgical sponge.
Consent forms do not excuse negligence and gross negligence. When you enter a hospital or doctor’s office, there is no expectation that when you sign a consent form that you consent to allowing negligent procedures to be performed on you.
What is Forced Arbitration?
There may be certain facilities and circumstances that indicate you have consented to arbitration. For example, typically when admitting a relative to a long-term care facility or an assisted living facility, the facility may require consent to arbitration as a mandatory agreement to accepting the patient, meaning it may be a non-negotiable clause.
Forced arbitration is notorious in legal circles for benefitting the defendant. Without the court’s oversight or public attention, defendants are able to keep their negligence confidential, the facts surrounding the acts confidential, and there may be a large amount of procedural restrictions that are not present in civil court.
If you are going into arbitration with a medical provider after you were hurt due to medical negligence, then it is important that you side with an experienced attorney first. They can represent you during arbitration hearings. Additionally, it’s important that the attorney be familiar with the medical and legal laws that allow for the challenging of such clauses to retain your right to make a claim in civil court.
Need help with a medical malpractice case in Texas? Maloney Law Group, P.L.L.C. should be the first name you call because of our vast experience and client-focused approach to everything we do. Contact us online to learn more.