Informed Consent and the Role of the Treating Physician.

The article examines the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Shinal v. Toms which shows the dangers of a narrow and rigid approach to consent. The case involves Dr. Steven Toms who performed a total resection of a recurrent craniopharyngioma on Megan Shinal, but he perforated her carotid artery. The majority decision in the case was based on Pennsylvania precedent holding that a hospital has no duty to obtain a patient's informed consent because it is the physician's duty to obtain consent.