Abstract
This Note will explore the newly recognized duty to warn a patient when the health care provider subsequently learns that previous non-negligent treatment is or may be harmful to him. The Note begins by discussing the need for a duty to follow up on medical treatment. The proposed duty is analogized to existing forms of liability involving obligations to inform, to correct and to continue acting within a special relationship. The Note then outlines the prima facie case for, and defenses to, an action for breach of the proposed duty to follow up. It then considers objections that may be raised to the imposition of this duty, and offers answers to these objections. Finally, this Note suggests several methods for limiting the doctor's vulnerability to this proposed form of action.
Recommended Citation
Note, What You Don't Know Will Hurt You: Physicians' Duty to Warn Patients about Newly Discovered Dangers in Previously Initiated Treatment, 31 Clev. St. L. Rev. 649 (1982)