Implications for Australian anaesthetists and proceduralists of a recent court decision regarding informed consent and patient positioning Breen, D. T., Mahar, P. D., Batty, L. M. and Rosenfeld, J. V. 2014, Implications for Australian anaesthetists and proceduralists of a recent court decision regarding informed consent and patient positioning, Anaesthesia and intensive care, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 11-14. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Implications for Australian anaesthetists and proceduralists of a recent court decision regarding informed consent and patient positioning Author(s) Breen, D. T. Mahar, P. D. Batty, L. M. Rosenfeld, J. V. Journal name Anaesthesia and intensive care Volume number 42 Issue number 1 Start page 11 End page 14 Total pages 4 Publisher Australian society of anaesthetists Place of publication Edgecliff, N. S. W. Publication date 2014-01 ISSN 0310-057X 1448-0271 Keyword(s) femoral nerve neurapraxia informed consent patient positioning Summary  This article discusses the medicolegal implications of a recent judgment in relation to a patient who suffered significant morbidity as a result of patient positioning during an operative procedure. The patient developed an unexpected serious complication following surgery, in the context of a preoperative consent that did not cover every potential complication or contingency. The court held that the failure to warn of a particular risk that would have prevented the patient from undergoing a procedure but did not occur will not necessarily result in a finding of negligence in relation to another risk where the harm did occur. This finding is well aligned to current clinical practice and at the same time does not abrogate the practitioner's duty to provide a comprehensive list of possible complications during the consent process for any proceduralist. In the context of a procedure requiring anaesthesia, the importance of communication and understanding between the anaesthetist and proceduralist as to which aspects of the consent process are undertaken by whom, and to ensure the process is done comprehensively, is of great importance and is indirectly highlighted by this recent judgment. Language eng Field of Research 111709 Health Care Administration Socio Economic Objective 920208 Health Policy Evaluation HERDC Research category C2 Other contribution to refereed journal Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30065823 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Medicine   Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 18 Sep 2014, 15:48:47 EST Fri, 19 Sep 2014, 08:48:14 EST Mon, 22 Sep 2014, 11:15:51 EST Tue, 23 Sep 2014, 12:57:06 EST Mon, 29 Sep 2014, 10:26:16 EST Mon, 29 Sep 2014, 10:27:06 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 2 times in TR Web of Science Cited 2 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 96 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Thu, 18 Sep 2014, 15:48:37 EST by Jane Moschetti