Judging from the initial feedback, many doctors requested that I stay with on the topic of malpractice for awhile. In reviewing many cases, the issue of informed consent often comes up. Here's the bottom line regarding high risk cases - The duty of the doctor is to obtain consent before treatment. A battery occurs if the patient is injured and the doctor did not obtain consent. If consent is given for initial treatment, but not for subsequent treatments that causes injury, then this is considered a battery.
Battery renders the doctor liable for any resulting injuries.
Some general guidelines to consider - All material information must be disclosed to the patient so an informed decision can be made regarding proposed treatment. Material information is information the chiropractor knows or should know would be regarded as significant by a reasonable person in the patient's position when deciding to accept or reject proposed treatment. There is no duty to disclose risks if a patient requests that you don't. There is no duty to disclose risks if the procedure is simple and the danger remote and commonly understood to be remote. There is no duty to discuss minor risks inherent in common procedures, when such procedures very seldom result in serious ill effects.