Duty of Care 1

Self-Quiz 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lifetime of eating doughnuts and candy bars, Homer’s doctor tells him that he will have to have a heart bypass operation. Homer has inherited a fortune from his uncle, Mr. Burns, and he decides to hire the very best surgeon to do the operation. Dr. Flanders is a renowned heart surgeon and he advertises himself as the very best bypass surgeon in the world. Homer hires Dr. Flanders immediately. The operation goes well but two weeks afterwards, Homer is still in a lot of pain. An X-ray shows that Dr. Flanders accidentally left a surgical sponge inside Homer’s chest cavity. In an action for negligence against Dr. Flanders, Homer will:

Choice 1 Win, if a reasonable person would not have left a sponge in Homer’s chest
Choice 2 Win, if a reasonable doctor would not have left a sponge in Homer’s chest
Choice 3 Win, if a reasonable doctor with Dr. Flanders’ specialized skills would not have left a sponge in Homer’s chest
Choice 4 Lose, because unhealthy Homer’s eating habits made the surgery necessary

After a lifetime of eating doughnuts and candy bars, Homer’s doctor, Dr Flanders, tells him that he will have to have a heart bypass operation. Dr. Flanders tells Homer that the possible temporary side effects to the surgery are infection, loss of appetite, shortness of breath and inability to sleep. What Dr. Flanders does not tell Homer is that the other possible side effects are blood clots and internal bleeding, both of which could cause sudden death. Dr. Flanders also does not tell Homer that an operation would not be necessary if Homer were to stick to a strict diet and exercise plan. After the surgery, Homer suffers internal bleeding and, although he survives, the loss of blood leaves him partially brain damaged. In a suit for negligence against Dr. Flanders, Homer will probably:
Choice 1 Win, if the information that Dr. Flanders withheld was material to Homer’s decision to have the surgery
Choice 2 Win, because a reasonable doctor would have disclosed everything to Homer
Choice 3 Lose, because a doctor is not required to disclose everything to a patient
Choice 4 Lose, because Homer’s unhealthy eating habits made the surgery necessary
While sitting on his couch watching television, Homer suffers a major heart attack. By the time he is brought to the hospital, Homer is unconscious. Dr. Flanders, a heart specialist, knows that a heart operation is the only way to save Homer’s life. The possible side effects to the surgery are infection, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, inability to sleep, and blood clots and internal bleeding, both of which could cause sudden death. Dr. Flanders immediately brings Homer to the operating room and performs the surgery. When Homer wakes up after the surgery and is told that he was operated on, Homer sues Dr. Flanders, claiming that he never would have consented to the surgery had he known what the side effects of the surgery could have been. If Dr. Flanders argues that he had no duty to disclose the side effects to Homer, Dr. Flanders will probably:
Choice 1 Lose, because Doctors always have a duty to disclose
Choice 2 Lose, because the surgery was performed without Homer’s consent
Choice 3 Win, because Homer was dying and the surgery saved his life
Choice 4 Win, because Homer was unconscious and this was an emergency situation
After a lifetime of eating doughnuts and candy bars, Homer’s doctor, Dr. Flanders, tells him that he will have to have a heart bypass operation. Dr. Flanders tells Homer that the possible side effects to the surgery are infection, loss of appetite, shortness of breath and inability to sleep, and blood clots and internal bleeding, both of which could cause sudden death. What Dr. Flanders does not tell Homer is that Homer’s surgery will be the first heart bypass operation that Dr. Flanders will have ever performed. The surgery goes well and Dr. Flanders tells Homer that “considering that this was my first ever bypass operation, things went pretty smoothly.” Homer is enraged and sues Dr. Flanders, claiming that he would never have consented to the surgery had he known that Dr. Flanders was so inexperienced. If Dr. Flanders claims that he was under no duty to disclose, he will probably:
Choice 1 Lose, because Doctors have a duty to disclose their level of experience
Choice 2 Lose, because Homer would not have consented to the surgery had he known that Dr. Flanders was an inexperienced heart surgeon
Choice 3 Win, because the surgery saved Homer’s life
Choice 4 Win, because doctors do not have a duty to disclose their level of experience
After the first snowfall of the winter, Rudolf and his friend Frosty go out to the park to go sledding and build a snow fort. They decide that the perfect place for their snow fort is at the bottom of the sledding hill. Rudolf and Frosty begin digging through the snow to make bricks for their fort. However, because there is so much snow on the hill, their digging destabilizes the snow and triggers a small avalanche. Blitzer, who has been playing nearby, gets hit by the sliding snow and is severely injured. In a suit against Rudolf and Frosty for negligence, Blitzer will probably:
Choice 1 Lose, because he was playing in the snow at his own risk
Choice 2 Lose, because the harm he suffered was unforeseeable to a reasonable person
Choice 3 Win, because the avalanche would not have occurred had it not been for the digging
Choice 4 Win, because Rudolph and Frosty were digging snow on public property

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