Cobb v. Grant was one of the first California cases to establish two informed consent components: The patient’s right of self-determination (no matter how bad the decision) and the physician’s non-delegable responsibility, due to advanced training, knowledge, and expertise, to adequately communicate information to the patient through the informed consent process that would enable the patient to determine the course of treatment he or she chooses.

A physician involved in a lengthy surgery was properly suspended from the hospital staff, the Court of Appeal has ruled, dismissing the physician’s challenge to the hospital’s peer review process.

Though it does not end a 10-year privileges dispute, a new California Supreme Court decision sheds light on when violations of hospital bylaws are material –or merely inconsequential.

There may be no other single hospital event that causes more debate among the courts than patients falling off of beds and gurneys. Rails up or rails down.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water.