Cancer and the Law of Informed Consent

Almquist N.J. , When the Truth Can Hurt: Patient-Mediated Informed Consent in Cancer Therapy, University of California at Los Angeles/Alaska Law Review 9(2): 143, 149–50 (1980).

Schloendorff v. Soc'y of New York Hosp., 105 N.E. 92, 93 (N.Y. 1914).

Salgo v. Leland Stanford Jr. University Board of Trustees, 317 P.2d 170, 181 (Cal. App. 1957).

Natanson v. Kline, 350 P.2d 1093 (Kan. 1960).

Id. at 1106.

Canterbury v. Spence, 464 F.2d 772 (D.C. Cir. 1972).

Id. at 787.

Annotation, Modern Status of Views as to General Measure of Physician's Duty to Inform Patient of Risks of Proposed Treatment. 88 A.L.R. 3rd 1008.

Robertson G. , Informed Consent to Medical Treatment, Law Quarterly Review 97:102 (1981).

A battery is the intentional, unprivileged touching of another. Prosser W.L. , Handbook of the Law of Torts (West, St. Paul) (1971) at 34.

Negligence refers to conduct which falls below the standard of care required by law under the applicable circumstances; the standard generally being that of the reasonable prudent person under those circumstances. Unlike battery, negligence is not an intentional tort. Black's Law Dictionary 931 (5th ed. 1979).

See, e.g., Mohr v. Williams, 104 N.W. 12 (Minn. 1905).

Salgo , supra note 3, at 181.

Katz J. , Informed Consent: A Fairy Tale? Law's Vision, University of Pittsburgh Law Review 39:137 (Winter 1977) [hereinafter cited as Katz, Informed Consent].

Canterbury v. Spence, supra note 6, at 789.

Katz , Informed Consent, supra note 14, at 156.

Id. at 156-57.

Id at 155, n.57.

See Nishi v. Hartwell. 473 P.2d 116 (Haw. 1970); Brigham v. Hicks, 260 S.E.2d 435 (N.C. App. 1979).

Oken D. , What to Tell Cancer Patients: A Study of Medical Attitudes. Journal of the American Medical Association 175(13): 1120 (April 1, 1961).

Novack D.H. , Changes in Physicians’ Attitudes Toward Telling the Cancer Patient, Journal of the American Medical Association 241(9): 897 (March 2, 1979).

Jones R. , Letter, Anxiety in Cancer Patients, Medical Journal of Australia, p. 674 (June 28, 1980).

See, e.g., Utah Code Ann. §78-14-5(2)(e); Fla. Stat. Ann. §768.46(4)(a) (West).

See, e.g., Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 12 §1909.

Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 4590(i) (Vernon). For a discussion of the various types of informed consent statutes, see generally Victor M.G. , Informed Consent. Medical Trial Technique Quarterly 27(2): 138, 159–1 (Fall 1980).

See, e.g., Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 111, §70E(h) (Lawyer's Co-op); Cal. Health & Safety §1704.5 (West).

Annas G.J. , Breast Cancer. The Treatment of Choice. Hastings Center Report 10(2): 27 (April 1980).

Stehlin J.S. , Treatment of Carcinoma of the Breast. Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics 149(6): 911 (December 1979).

Id

Id. at 914.

Id. at 921.

Id. at 915.

Veronesi U. , Comparing Radical Mastectomy with Quadrantectomy, Axillary Dissection, and Radiotherapy in Patients with Small Cancers of the Breast. New England Journal of Medicine 305(1): 6 (July 2, 1981).

Jones R.F. , Letter to the Editor, New England Journal of Medicine 305(21): 1283 (November 19, 1981).

Bross I.D.J. , Letter to the Editor, New England Journal of Medicine 305(21): 1283 (November 19, 1981).

Langone J. , Breast Cancer. Debate Over Surgery, Discover 2(9): 24 (September 1981).

A rational decision will be defined here as one which, in the light of the available medical evidence, maximizes the patient's chances for prolonging life and fostering health. Many will doubtless object to this definition; others may claim that there is no single rational decision for a particular patient. The above definition is offered for the benefit of those who feel that a definition is called for.

See Langone , supra note 36, at 27.

Fox M.S. , On the Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer, Journal of the American Medical Association 241(5): 489 (February 2, 1979).

See Stehlin , supra note 28.

See Massachusetts and California statutes, supra note 26.

Courts however are free to impose a higher (or different) standard. For a case not decided on informed consent doctrine, but where there was a judicially imposed standard of care. see Helling v. Carey, 519 P.2d 981 (Wash. 1974).

See, e.g., Hofbauer v. Hofbauer. 393 N.E.2d 1009 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1979); but see In re Custody of a Minor (Chad Green). 393 N.E.2d 837 (Mass. 1978).

Methods of Testing for Cancer Drugs are Criticized, New York Times, November 7, 1981, at A28.

45 C.F.R. 546.103(c) (1978).

See Herbert V. , Informed Consent—A Legal Evaluation, Cancer 46(4): 1043, 1043 (August 1980); Goldenberg I. , quoted in Kraft R.B. , The Breast Cancer Controversy and its Implications for the Informed Consent Doctrine. Journal of Legal Medicine 2(1): 47, 62 (October 1980).

Muss H.B. , Written Informed Consent in Patients with Breast Cancer. Cancer 43(4): 1549 (April 1979).

Id. at 1555.

Id. at 1556.

Kennedy B.J. Lillehaugen A. , Patient Recall of Informed Consent. Medical and Pediatric Oncology 7(2):173 (1979).

Morrow G. , A Simple Technique for Increasing Cancer Patients’ Knowledge of Informed Consent to Treatment. Cancer 42(2): 793 (August 1978).

Grundner T.M. , On the Readability of Surgical Consent Forms, New England Journal of Medicine 302(16): 900 (April 17, 1980). On the general subject of patients’ failure to comprehend and recall disclosures, see Cassileth B.R. , Informed Consent—Why Are Its Goals Imperfectly Realized? New England Journal of Medicine 302(16): 896 (April 17, 1980).

Meisel A. Roth L.H. , What We Do and Do Not Know About Informed Consent. Journal of the American Medical Association 246(21): 2473 (November 27, 1981).

See, e.g., Pegram v. Sisco, 406 F. Supp. 776 (W.D. Ark. 1976); Ahern v. Veterans’ Administration. 537 F.2d 1098 (10th Cir. 1976).

Truman v. Thomas, 611 P.2d 902 (Cal. 1980).

Id. at 909.

Id. at 910.

Id. at 906.

Helling v. Carey, supra note 42.

Katz , Informed Consent, supra note 14, at 139.