Philosophy 2080 Lecture Notes - Public Services And Procurement Canada, Classic Case, Obiter Dictum
5 Feb 2013
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The court must consider whether a doctor is required to inform the patient of the nature and the risks of a surgical procedure as part of his treatment of the patient. It is not a case about a negligent surgical procedure. You will note that the trial court gave judgment for the plaintiff both in negligence and in battery. You will recall battery is an intentional tort, defined as the intentional application of force on the person of another, without that person"s consent. Another difficult problem for the court is that the plaintiff is suing on the basis that he would not have had the surgery if he really knew the risks. Hindsight is 20 / 20 they say, every plaintiff would make this claim, once they knew the operation didn"t turn out they way they had hoped. So look for the way the court recognizes, articulates, and ultimately deals with this problem.
