Informed Consent

Black M.D. v. Comer, No. 1031889 (Ala. July 25, 2005)

A patient brought suit against a physician for battery and lack of informed consent arising out of a surgery in which the physician accidentally removed the patient's kidney. The patient had signed an informed consent form which allowed the physician to perform the services he deemed "reasonable and necessary according to medical judgment." The patient's kidney was ten inches from where it was supposed to be, one-third the size of a normal kidney, and unrecognizable as a result of fat build up. The physician mistook the kidney for matted together lymph nodes and surgically removed the kidney. The trial court granted the patient's motion for summary judgment, holding that the consent form did not provide a defense for the patient's battery and informed consent claims. The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed, stating that whether the physician's actions were "reasonable and necessary according to medical judgment" required proof by expert testimony and thus the grant of summary judgment was inappropriate.