Treating the injured: a privilege conferred by both patient and wider society: the medical exception and consent in trauma

Abstract

Two discrete legal factors enable the surgeon to treat an injured patient the fully informed, autonomous consent of the adult patient with capacity via civil law; and the medical exception to the criminal law. This article discusses current concepts in consent in trauma; and also considers the perhaps less well known medical exception to the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which exempts surgeons from criminal liability as long as they provide ‘proper medical treatment’. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2024;5(7):565–569.

Keywords

• the medical exception
• proper medical treatment
• reasonable treatment options
• montgomery 2015
• mcculloch 2023
• offences against the person act 1861
• civil law
• criminal law
• consent
• consent in trauma
• orthopaedic trauma
• orthopaedic surgeons
• physicians
• orthopaedic trauma surgeons
• orthopaedic trauma surgeons
• limb injury
• wounding
• limb reconstruction
• surgical treatment
• alternative treatments