Section 34-23A-1.7 - Common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consentclaims based on reasonable patient standard reaffirmed--Application toabortion procedures--Construction. - South Dakota Statutes

34-23A-1.7. Common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consent claims based on reasonable patient standard reaffirmed--Application to abortion procedures--Construction. The South Dakota common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consent claims based upon the reasonable patient standard is reaffirmed and is hereby expressly declared to apply to all abortion procedures. The duty of a physician to disclose all facts about the nature of the procedure, the risks of the procedure, and the alternatives to the procedure that a reasonable patient would consider significant to her decision of whether to undergo or forego the procedure applies to all abortions. Nothing in § 34-23A-1, §§ 34-23A-1.2 to 34-23A-1.7, inclusive, § 34-23A-10.1, and § 34-23A-10.3 may be construed to render any of the requirements otherwise imposed by common law inapplicable to abortion procedures or diminish the nature or the extent of those requirements. The disclosure requirements expressly set forth in § 34-23A-1, §§ 34-23A-1.2 to 34-23A-1.7, inclusive, § 34-23A-10.1, and § 34-23A-10.3 are an express clarification of, and are in addition to, those common law disclosure requirements.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 6.