What is the duty of a doctor to disclose to a patient?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Kern v. Forest, 2010 BCSC 938 (CanLII):
However, the duty to disclose includes an obligation to ensure the patient’s comprehension of the information communicated. In Sadlowski v. Yeung, 2008 BCSC 456 at paras. 103-5, 57 C.C.L.T. (3d) 305, Mr. Justice Slade reviewed the authorities on this point, which establish that the burden is placed on the doctor to show that she took reasonable (not exhaustive) steps to ascertain whether the patient understood the message being conveyed.
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