Scott v. Bradford

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Scott v. Bradford (1979) 606 P.2d 554 is a Supreme Court of Oklahoma case.

[edit] Facts

Mrs. Scott, the plaintiff, sought treatment from Dr. Bradford. She was diagnosed with several fibroid tumors on her uterus. She signed a routine consent to surgery form prior to the hysterectomy. Afterward she was experiencing problems with incontinence, and she visited another doctor. She was found to have a condition which allowed urine to leak from her bladder into her vagina. She underwent three additional surgeries to correct her problem.

[edit] Reasoning

The duty to disclose is the first element. Then proof that patient would have chosen no treatment or a different course of treatment had the alternatives and risks been made known, thus establishing a causation. If the patient would have elected to proceed the element of causation is missing, and so to negligence. A causal connection between the patient’s injury and the doctor’s breach of a duty to disclose exists only when the disclosure of material risks would have resulted in a decision against it. The final element is that of an injury. The risk must have actually materialized, AND pl must have been injured as a result of submitting to the treatment.

[edit] Notes

Exception to the Duty to disclose: There is no need to disclose risks that either ought to be known by everyone or are already known to the patient; or if the disclosure would alarm an emotionally upset patient; or where there is an emergency and the patient is in no condition to determine for himself whether the treatment should be administered.