Those readers who are advantage gamblers certainly realize where I am going with this. If the “expected value” of a medical procedure is significantly higher than doing nothing, it is malpractice to settle on doing nothing just because doing something occasionally does harm. Undoubtedly most doctors know this. Unfortunately, lawyers pretend like they don’t.
No further explanation needed. All comments welcome.
The medical community has a duty to their patients and/or their representatives to explain what options they have and what are risks and benefits.
If the patient/representative then declines the procedure, that’s on them. My paternal grandfather died after refusing a life-saving operation.
These days, some patients are being denied care because the doctors/hospitals don’t have the capacity to handle everyone. A good friend was told by a surgeon that he would have to lose 50 pounds before he would operate on him. My friend did that, but his operation was rescheduled twice because of various capacity or Covid-related issues.