Meyers v. Epstein

Meyers v. Epstein,
No. 01 Civ. 1754 (GWG) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2003)

The
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a
patient’s motion in limine in a lawsuit filed against two physicians. The patient
had given permission for a physician to perform brain surgery but the surgery
was ultimately performed by a second physician. The court found that the patient
could not show that her foreseeable surgical complications were the result of
either the alleged battery claim against the operating physician or the alleged
malpractice claim against the physician who agreed to perform the surgery but
then permitted a second physician to do so. The court looked to the law of informed
consent which does not allow recovery for the consequences of surgery if a reasonably
prudent person would have consented to the surgery if fully informed.