Medical Law Case Study

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1. A doctor’s failure to advise and disclose material risks to his patient before surgery is a non-adherence to the standard of care of medical practitioners.
2. Medical practitioners must provide their patient with relevant information such as the material risks, side effects, nature of treatment and others in such a way that the patient is aware and can understand it. It is a patient’s right to have knowledge on the suggested medical procedure and he must also fully understand the information disclosed so that he can decide to proceed or decline the treatment.
3. The Bolam test which was derived from the case of Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee looks at the opinion and common practices of medical practitioners at that time. …show more content…

The principle of Rogers was applied in the Malaysian case of Foo Fio Na v Dr Soo Fook Mun & Anor where the Federal Court held that the Bolam test is not relevant and inapplicable to a doctor’s duty to disclose risks. The Rogers test is applicable only to doctor’s duty to disclose risks and information and not applicable to duty to treat and diagnose. The practitioner is duty bound by law to inform his patient who is capable of understanding the risks involved so as to enable him to proceed or decline such treatment. The Court also held that “there is a need for members of the medical profession to stand up to the wrong doings, if any, as in the case of medical negligence cases would be appraised with evidence that would assist them in their deliberations”. They opined that the test in Rogers would be “a more appropriate and a viable test of this millennium”. The Rogers test did not deny the relevance of medical opinion but only its …show more content…

In the present case, Dr. Strange, based on the advice from the hospital legal team, did disclose the risk to Logan before the cholecystectomy by giving him access to a program that provided all the necessary information about the risks that was accessible by Internet. The material risks, due to Logan’s medical history, of this operation was “pulmonary embolism” and “sexual dysfunction”. The risks in the program were listed and explained in a clear and simple manner which Logan could understand. Dr. Strange also told Logan that it was vital for him to understand and agree to the risks involved in the operation. He also told Logan to feel free to enquire him about anything. Besides, Logan also knew the nature of the cholecystectomy procedure which is to remove his gall bladder when he was informed by the doctor. Logan also told Dr. Strange that he had completed the online consent form, making Dr. Strange believe that he knew the material risks. Hence, it can be deduced that the material risks were disclosed to Logan before the proposed surgery. Logan should not assume that it was fate telling him to not worry when he couldn’t access the program because it was his right as a patient to have knowledge on the procedure and Dr. Strange also welcome his enquiries if he had any but Logan did not exercise it. Logan was also informed about the nature of the procedure and so, Dr. Strange cannot be liable for negligence in disclosing material

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