While a prisoner in custody of the defendant, the plaintiff was informed by the prison nurse in the presence of other prisoners that he was to undergo a blood test for HIV and that he had the right to refuse such test. This information was repeated to the plaintiff in a closed consulting room, but …Read more

The child “B” had a long history of unsuccessful treatments fo her cancer. In January 1995,  B suffered a further relapse of acute myeloid leukaemia. Both the doctor who oversaw B’s treatment since the initial diagnosis and the doctor who performed a prior bone marrow transplant agreed that the child had approximately six to eight …Read more

Plaintiffs, Michael Sean Rizzo Sr. and Pamela Rizzo, filed this action against defendant physician Maurice Schiller, who they alleged breached the standard of care owed to them with his negligent and nonconsensual use of obstetrical forceps during Mrs. Rizzo’s delivery. Pamela Rizzo was admitted to Fairfax Hospital on November 7th at 9:00am in active labor. …Read more

Mr. Bland was in the care of the health authority, and had been in a persistent vegetative state for three and a half years due to a severe crushed chest injury, which had caused devastating and permanent damage to the higher functions of his brain. He was being fed artificially by a tube inserted through …Read more

“Marion” was a fourteen year old girl with an “intellectual disability”, severe deafness, epilepsy, an ataxic gait and “behavioural problems”. She could not care for herself. Her parents proposed that Marion undertake a hysterectomy and an ovarienectomy (the Procedures). The hysterectomy was proposed to prevent natural pregnancy and menstruation and the psychological and behavioural consequences …Read more

This case dealt with the right to choose how to live, specifically regarding the right to refuse a blood transfusion. Miss T had been raised by her mother, a Jehovah’s witness, but was never baptized into the faith and had told her boyfriend and father that she was not a Jehovah’s Witness. She was 34 …Read more

Planned Parenthood brought suit challenging the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982 (the Act) in federal court on constitutional grounds. The Act included the following requirements for women seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania: A woman seeking an abortion must give her informed consent prior to the abortion procedure, and she must provide certain information at …Read more

The petitioner, David Riggins, challenged his criminal convictions on the basis that his liberty and right to due process of the law, as protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, were violated when the State of Nevada forcibly administered him with an antipsychotic drug during his trial. In November 1987, Riggins …Read more

Appellant doctor appealed an award of $808,564.38 to respondent patient. Appellant doctor had operated on the right eye of respondent patient in an attempt to improve its appearance and restore some sight as respondent patient’s right eye had been sightless from a previous injury. The lower court had found that appellant doctor had operated with …Read more

In January 1983, Nancy Cruzan lost control of her car, which overturned. Found unconscious, she remained in a coma for three weeks, and eventually her condition progressed into what was termed a “persistent vegetative state,” where there are motor reflexes but no signs of cognition. She was able to survive when fed and hydrated artificially, …Read more