Abstract

KIE: In this Canadian case, a healthy 55-year-old father of ten children was diagnosed as having a herniated disk. Following surgery, he experienced widespread paralysis, lost mobility, became depressed, withdrew from his family, and attempted suicide. His wife, acting as guardian, brought a negligence action on the grounds that the treating neurosurgeon, by not telling the patient about riskless alternatives to the surgery, had failed to obtain his informed consent. After losing at the trial court level, the plaintiffs appealed to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. In ruling in the appellant's favor, the Court of Appeal held that, in addition to disclosing the material risks of the surgery, a surgeon must also, where circumstances require, explain to the patient the consequences of leaving the ailment untreated, as well as alternative means of treatment and their risks.