Medical malpractice claims typically fall into one of three broad categories:
- Failure to properly diagnose a medical condition, such as cancer.
- Failure to properly treat a diagnosed medical condition.
- Failure to obtain the patient’s informed consent prior to treatment.
Informed consent is a legal term that refers to the medical professional’s responsibility to fully disclose all of the facts, risks and likely outcomes of a proposed treatment before proceeding and the patient consenting once he or she has been fully informed.
