New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Trial Court's Grant of Summary Judgment Upheld on Appeal Due to Plaintiffs' Failure to Proffer Sufficient Expert Testimony Regarding Informed Consent

The Tennesse Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Jarnagan v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, No. M2022-01012-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 31, 2023). The syllabus from the opinion reads:

The Plaintiff brought suit alleging the Defendants failed to obtain informed consent prior to conducting a medical procedure. The Defendants responded with a consent form signed by the Plaintiff detailing the potential side effects of the procedure of which the Plaintiff asserted he had not been informed, and they moved for summary judgment. The Plaintiff argued the consent form in the present case was inadequate to establish informed consent. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants. The Plaintiff appealed, challenging the validity of the signed consent form based on an alleged misrepresentation and his inability to read because of an eye condition, and arguing, therefore, that there is a material question of fact as to whether informed consent was obtained. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Here is a link to the slip opinion: UNSIGNED-M2022-01012-COA-JARNAGIN.pdf (tncourts.gov).

NOTE: This opinion is absolutely correct.