Austlii (High Court of Australia) Negligence – Causation – Failure to warn of inherent risk of operation about which patient had specifically inquired – Plaintiff would have inevitably required the same operation at some time in the future but would have postponed the operation performed if properly warned – Surgery was performed with due skill and care but risk materialised – Whether there was a causal connection between failure to warn and plaintiff’s physical injury – Whether damage suffered was physical injury or loss of chance. Negligence – Damages – Whether damages should be discounted to account for possible future events. Medicine – Medical practitioners – Failure to warn of inherent risk of operation about which patient had specifically inquired.
Judges:
Gaudron, Gummow and Kirby JJ
Citations:
(1998) 195 CLR 232
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Australia
Cited by:
Cited – Chester v Afshar HL 14-Oct-2004
The claimant suffered back pain for which she required neurosurgery. The operation was associated with a 1-2% risk of the cauda equina syndrome, of which she was not warned. She went ahead with the surgery, and suffered that complication. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Professional Negligence
Updated: 24 November 2022; Ref: scu.216514