Informed Consent and the Oncologist: Legal Duties to Discuss Costs of Treatment

ASCO Post (November 25, 2017)

4 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2018

See all articles by Thaddeus Mason Pope

Thaddeus Mason Pope

Mitchell Hamline School of Law; Queensland University of Technology - Australian Health Law Research Center; Alden March Bioethics Institute; Saint Georges University

Date Written: November 25, 2017

Abstract

The ASCO Post, in partnership with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), communicates news of evidence- based multidisciplinary cancer care to a broad audience of 30,000 oncology professionals and ASCO members. Professor Pope authors a monthly Law and Ethics in Oncology column that explores the legal and ethical issues oncologists must be aware of in this era of precision medicine and changing health-care policy, both to protect patients’ rights and to safeguard against potential legal jeopardy.

For 50 years, clinicians in the United States have had a legal duty to disclose to patients with cancer the risks, benefits, and alternatives to a proposed cancer treatment. Until recently, however, it has been unclear whether clinicians have a similar duty to discuss the costs of that treatment. Today, to mitigate the risks of civil liability and disciplinary sanctions, the ethical and, arguably, legal consensus is that the prudent clinician should discuss the costs of treatment with his or her patients. Here is a brief history of how this consensus evolved.

Note: Reprinted from The ASCO Post, with permission from Harborside. © 2018. 

Keywords: informed consent, medical malpractice, torts, costs

JEL Classification: I18, K13, K32

Suggested Citation

Pope, Thaddeus Mason, Informed Consent and the Oncologist: Legal Duties to Discuss Costs of Treatment (November 25, 2017). ASCO Post (November 25, 2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3181390

Thaddeus Mason Pope (Contact Author)

Mitchell Hamline School of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

Queensland University of Technology - Australian Health Law Research Center ( email )

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Alden March Bioethics Institute ( email )

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United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

Saint Georges University ( email )

West Indies
Grenada

HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

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