Court Opinion

ID: 9477184
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:16:43.517368+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:44.877271
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I join the judgment of the court. I am also pleased to join that part of the court’s opinion that holds that the defendant hospital was not obligated to guarantee that the patient had given informed consent.
Our conclusion that the hospital did not have the responsibility to procure such a consent ends the case. There is no need for us to add — gratuitously—that the advice that the hospital did give was, in any event, adequate. The constitutional underpinnings of Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938)— that the states, not the federal government, have the sole power to make law in those areas not specifically reserved to the federal government — counsel that the federal judiciary, when deciding cases based on diversity of citizenship, ought to refrain from intruding unnecessarily into the states’ law-making process. As the cases cited by the majority indicate, Illinois has established the general principles of informed consent. It should be allowed to develop those principles on a case-by-case basis without unnecessary comment by federal judges. It is especially important that we be circumspect in this regard in this case. It involves a relatively new surgical technique. In my view, the question of what constitutes adequate disclosure in such a situation is a matter that deserves careful and thoughtful attention by state policymakers and state judges. While the Illinois courts are, of course, always free to ignore our views on what the law of Illinois is or should be, it would be unrealistic to assume that our decisions do not foster reliance until the Illinois courts do have the opportunity to rule. This intrusion ought to be avoided whenever it can; it can be avoided here. Therefore, I respectfully decline to join that part of the opinion that discusses this subject.