Patient’s rights after an unauthorized treatment plan Health care laws define how doctors or nurses can treat patients. While there are exceptions to the laws that are sometimes difficult to understand, certain terms allow a patient to sue a medical provider in Ohio for performing an unauthorized treatment.
Every major surgical operation needs the patient's consent. Health care law requires that every patient has to be accurately informed about his or her medication condition and the purpose and details of a treatment. Certain surgeries and treatments require that the patient review and sign an informed consent form.
The doctor or nurse doesn't have to receive informed consent for every single procedure. A doctor who performs an emergency procedure on an unconscious, incapacitated or dying patient does not need consent. In this case, treating the patient is more beneficial than not treating the patient.
When an unauthorized treatment plan becomes illegal
A patient can challenge an unauthorized treatment plan if he or she can prove that the doctor should have obtained consent. This is needed for a non-emergency medical treatment. An example is a doctor who performs an unauthorized liposuction on an unconscious patient who is supposed to undergo a mastectomy. An unauthorized treatment can lead to all kinds of medical mishaps, such as
surgical errors, defective medical devices, anesthesia errors, hospital acquired-infections and other problems. This can lead to the doctor being charged with civil or criminal charges like gross negligence or battery.
How patients' rights are protected
Doctors do not always make the right moves. They can forget to ask a patient for consent or deliberately skip that step of a treatment plan. But without obtaining informed consent, a medical provider can be charged with negligence.