''Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board''
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UKSC 11is a Scottish delict, medical negligence and
English tort law
English tort law concerns the compensation for harm to people's rights to health and safety, a clean environment, property, their economic interests, or their reputations. A "tort" is a wrong in civil, rather than criminal law, that usually requi ...
case on doctors and pharmacists that outlines the rule on the disclosure of risks to satisfy the criteria of an informed consent. The Supreme Court departed and overruled the earlier House of Lords case in ''
Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital
''Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital'' 985AC 871 is an important House of Lords case in English tort law, specifically medical negligence, concerning the duty of a surgeon to inform a patient of the risks before undergoing ...
'', in reconsidering the duty of care of a doctor towards a patient on medical treatment. The case changed the ''
Bolam test
''Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee'' 9571 WLR 582 is an English tort law case that lays down the typical rule for assessing the appropriate standard of reasonable care in negligence cases involving skilled professionals such as docto ...
'' to a greater test in medical negligence by introducing the general duty to attempt the disclosure of risks.
[ 9571 WLR 582]
Facts
The claimant was a woman of small stature and a diabetic under the care of a doctor during her pregnancy and labour. The doctor did not inform her of the 9-10% risk of
shoulder dystocia
Shoulder dystocia is when, after vaginal delivery of the head, the baby's anterior shoulder gets caught above the mother's pubic bone. Signs include retraction of the baby's head back into the vagina, known as "turtle sign". Complications for th ...
, where the baby's shoulders are unable to pass through the pelvis among diabetic women as she viewed the problem being very slight and a caesarean section was not in the claimant's interest.
The baby suffered from severe disabilities after birth due to shoulder dystocia. The claimant sought damages from the health board for negligence on the part of the doctor for failing to advise her on the risk of shoulder dystocia. The Court of Session ruled that there was no negligence based on the Hunter v Hanley test and that there was no causation since the claimant would not have submitted to a caesarean birth even if informed of the pregnancy risk.
Judgment
The Supreme Court affirmed the requirement of 'informed choice' or 'informed consent' by patients in medical treatment that rests fundamentally on the duty of disclosure by medical practitioners.
Lords
Kerr
Kerr may refer to:
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*Kerr (surname)
*Kerr (given name) Places
;United States
*Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois
*Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place
*Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community
*Kerr County, Texas
Other uses
...
and
Reed
Reed or Reeds may refer to:
Science, technology, biology, and medicine
* Reed bird (disambiguation)
* Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times
* Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales
* ...
said:
Lords Neuberger, Clarke, Wilson and Hodge agreed.
Lady Hale gave a concurring opinion.
See also
*
Delict
Delict (from Latin ''dēlictum'', past participle of ''dēlinquere'' ‘to be at fault, offend’) is a term in civil and mixed law jurisdictions whose exact meaning varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but is always centered on the notion of ...
*
English tort law
English tort law concerns the compensation for harm to people's rights to health and safety, a clean environment, property, their economic interests, or their reputations. A "tort" is a wrong in civil, rather than criminal law, that usually requi ...
*
Breach of duty in English law
In English tort law, there can be no liability in negligence unless the claimant establishes both that they were owed a duty of care by the defendant, and that there has been a breach of that duty. The defendant is in breach of duty towards the ...
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
English tort case law
Scottish case law
Health law in the United Kingdom