What Is Medical Battery? Suing for Treatment You Never Agreed To

Every patient has the right to determine the treatment they receive in a medical setting. In addition, a patient may bring a malpractice claim if medical professionals fail to meet the standard of care. Medical battery is a direct claim that patients can bring when an intentional, harmful, or offensive touching occurs without consent in the medical setting.

If you or a loved one has been impacted by medical battery after receiving treatment you never agreed to, you may be eligible for compensation. Use the Super Lawyers directory to locate an experienced medical malpractice attorney in your area who can explain your legal options.

What Is Medical Battery?

Medical battery is an intentional harmful or offensive contact with a patient, without the patient’s consent, in a medical setting. This intentional tort is rooted in the long-standing legal protection of patient autonomy.

Medical battery occurs when a healthcare provider performs a medical procedure or treatment that the patient did not authorize. It can also occur when a medical provider performs a procedure or treatment without the patient completing a consent form.

Key Elements of Medical Battery

To prevail on a claim for medical battery, the plaintiff must prove the following:

• The provider intentionally performed the procedure or touching
• The patient did not consent, or the act exceeded the consent provided
• The contact was harmful or offensive to a reasonable person

Regarding “intent,” in medical battery, it refers to the intent to perform the act, not the intent to cause harm. A provider who believed they were helping can still be liable.

How State Law Applies

Some states treat certain consent cases as negligence rather than battery; procedural rules such as filing deadlines (statute of limitations) and the evidence required to prove the claim vary by jurisdiction.

Medical Battery vs. Medical Malpractice vs. Lack of Informed Consent

Medical battery, medical malpractice, and lack of informed consent all involve medical procedures, but they are distinct claims. Battery does not require proving a breach of the standard of care.

Standard Medical Malpractice

A medical malpractice claim is based on negligence (medical negligence). The patient must prove:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed
• The provider breached the accepted medical standard of care
• The breach caused injury
• The injury resulted in damages

To proceed in a medical malpractice lawsuit, the case usually requires expert testimony to establish what a competent provider would have done. For example, medical malpractice occurs when a surgeon performs an authorized surgery but makes a careless surgical error. Many other common types of medical malpractice exist.

Lack of Informed Consent

Lack of informed consent is typically considered negligence. The patient agreed to the procedure but was not informed about the material risks, benefits, or alternatives. The patient must generally show that a reasonable person would have declined if properly informed about the treatment options.

Lack of informed consent can occur if a patient provided conditional consent for the surgery but was never told about a significant risk of nerve damage, and the nerve damage occurs.

Medical Battery

Unlike lack of informed consent and medical malpractice, which are forms of medical negligence, medical battery is an intentional tort, not a negligence claim. With medical battery, the issue is whether the patient agreed to the procedure, not how well the procedure was done. For this claim, the patient need not prove a breach of the medical standard of care.

A medical battery claim can succeed when a provider fails to obtain informed consent, even if the procedure was performed skillfully and produced a good medical outcome. A medical battery claim can occur, for example, when a patient consents to the removal of one ovary but the surgeon commits a medical error and removes both ovaries.

Common Scenarios of Non-Consensual Medical Intervention

Many situations qualify as medical battery. Common scenarios for this type of personal injury claim include:

• Wrong procedure or the wrong surgery site
• Surgery beyond the scope of consent when the provider performed a substantially different procedure
• Treatment on unconscious or sedated patients
• Substitute or “ghost” surgeons perform the surgery instead of the one the patient agreed to
• Ignoring a patient’s refusal or withdrawn consent

However, exceptions exist for medical battery cases. When a patient receives emergency treatment, providers must act without consent to prevent death or serious harm when the patient cannot consent, and no representative is available.

Damages Available in a Medical Battery Lawsuit

Plaintiffs who prove a medical battery claim can recover compensation for a range of damages.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages fall into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.

• Economic damages. Medical bills, corrective treatment, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity.
• Non-economic damages. Pain and suffering, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life.

Emotional Distress Damages

Emotional distress damages include compensation for anxiety, humiliation, trauma, and loss of trust in medical care. These types of damages are particularly significant in cases involving intimate exams, invasive procedures, or loss of reproductive ability.

Nominal Damages

Battery protects the right to bodily autonomy itself, so a violation may be recognized even when physical pain is minimal.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are available in some cases where conduct was reckless, malicious, or showed a conscious disregard for patient rights. Punitive damages are intended to punish the provider and deter similar conduct.

Factors That May Affect Recovery

Recovery may depend on state damage caps, especially if the claim falls under medical malpractice statutes, short statutes of limitations, and the documentation available to prove the claim, including consent forms and medical records.

Injured by Treatment You Never Agreed To? Speak to a Lawyer

Medical battery is a claim that occurs when a provider treats you without consent or beyond the consent you gave. Unlike medical malpractice, you do not need to prove the provider fell below the standard of care. However, to get the best-case outcome, you’ll need help from an experienced medical battery attorney.

Use the Super Lawyers directory to find a medical malpractice lawyer in your area.