Court Opinion

ID: 9610955
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:49:37.933735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:07.361670
License: Public Domain

ROVIRA, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur with the court’s opinion except as to Part III which holds that negligent misrepresentation is not subsumed within the doctrine of informed consent, and that the doctrine of informed consent is not coextensive with negligent misrepresentation.
In my opinion, the tort of negligent misrepresentation should not be applied along with the doctrine of informed consent. A close examination of the elements of negligent misrepresentation as set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 311 (1965),1 and the jury instruction dealing with informed consent2 reflect that negligent misrepresentation is subsumed within the requirement of informed consent.
The informed consent instruction implicitly assumes that the information given to *916the patient is true and not false, and requires the physician to inform the patient of the “substantial risks, if any, involved in undergoing the operation.... ”
In this ease, if the possibility of amputation was a substantial risk of the operation and if Dr. Murray did not inform his patient of this risk or negligently gave him false information, he would have failed to meet the requirement of obtaining informed consent. Also, if the statement by Dr. Murray concerning his experience in doing ankle replacements was false and such false statement added to the risk of the operation and misled his patient, he again would have failed to obtain an informed consent.
The law of informed consent imposes on a physician the obligation to obtain his patient’s informed consent prior to surgery. If false information is negligently given by the physician and the patient relies on it, then clearly the patient has not given an informed consent.
The court’s opinion vitiates the limitations of, and protections developed under, the doctrine of informed consent. It exposes medical practitioners to liability without the protection of the “reasonable medical practitioner” standard, an important part of the doctrine of informed consent.
I cannot agree with the statement endorsed by the majority that although a physician may have complied with professional community standards of disclosure, nevertheless, he may still be liable for negligently misrepresenting facts which are “extrinsic to his duty to warn.” Nor do I agree with the sweeping generalization that a physician who applies the same “degree of knowledge, skill and care as is used by other physicians practicing the same specialty” may still be liable in damages because he has not discharged his full responsibility to the patient. These statements support the conclusion that even though a physician has measured up to the standard of reasonable medical practice in his community he may still be liable in damages. In effect, recovery by the patient is permitted whenever the result is not what the patient expected or hoped for.
The majority opinion fails to cite any authority to support its decision to impose the doctrine of negligent misrepresentation on top of the doctrine of implied consent. While such a failure does not, in and of itself, demonstrate the error of its decision, it reinforces my view that we should act with restraint in imposing additional theories of liability on those engaged in the healing arts.
I am authorized to say that Chief Justice HODGES joins in this dissent.

. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 311 provides in pertinent part:
“Negligent Misrepresentation Involving Risk of Physical Harm
(1) One who negligently gives false information to another is subject to liability for physical harm caused by action taken by the other in reasonable reliance upon such information, where such harm results (a) to the other .... ”

. “For a patient’s consent to be effective, whether expressed or implied, the physician must have informed the patient as to the nature of the ailment, the nature of the operation, the alternative treatment available, if any, and the substantial risks, if any, involved in undergoing the operation or the alternative treatment, to the extent that a reasonable medical practitioner would have done under the same or similar circumstances.