Court Opinion

ID: 9729593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:43:42.696744+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:59.910684
License: Public Domain

BECK, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that appellant failed to establish the necessary element of causation in his negligence case against appellee, and therefore join in that portion of the majority opinion affirming the nonsuit on this claim. I also concur in the majority’s holding that appellee did not introduce defense evidence during cross-examination of appellant’s witness.
I must dissent, however, from the majority’s decision to remand this matter for further proceedings on the informed consent claim. Without even addressing the question of whether appellee obtained appellant’s informed consent prior to performing the challenged perineal urethrotomy, I would affirm the nonsuit on this claim for the same reason we affirm the nonsuit on the negligence claim. Where surgery is performed without informed consent a technical battery occurs and the physician is liable for “any injuries resulting from that invasion.” Sagala v. Tavares, 367 Pa.Super. 573, 533 A.2d 165, 169 (1987), app. den., 518 Pa. 626, 541 A.2d 1138 (1988) (emphasis added). A plaintiff in an informed consent action is required to show that he sustained an injury that was caused by the operation; without medical expert testimony establishing the causative element, any jury award in the informed consent action would be speculative and improper. Maliszew*266ski v. Rendon, 374 Pa.Super. 109, 542 A.2d 170, 173 (1988), app. den., 520 Pa. 617, 554 A.2d 510 (1989).
I therefore would affirm the trial court’s grant of nonsuit on the entire case, including the informed consent claim.