Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Utah

Are Doctors reliable for their advice?

I was about to receive radiation on my upper thigh. I decided to take a sperm sample to save because I was worried about what the radiation will do to my testicles. I told my oncologist what I had done and told said that I was planning on doing more samples, because my wife and I want more children. She told me that I shouldn't worry about doing any samples, because the radiation treatment would not affect my testicles and make me sterile. I asked the doctor several times during the radiation treatment if I should be worried about being sterile. The doctor told me that my testicles were not in the radiation field and I will be fine. She even suggested that we should save our money and go ahead and throw away the sperm sample that we had saved earlier. A year after the radiation treatment we decided to try to have another child. We have three children and have never had problems getting pregnant. We found out that I am now sterile with no real hope of recovery. We do have one sample to use to try to get pregnant but we have to use IVF so we don't waste any sperm and have the highest % of success. I don't know if she did the radiation proceedure wrong, but the doctor told me not to take any sperm samples.


Asked on 9/23/02, 10:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alvin Lundgren Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.

Re: Are Doctors reliable for their advice?

There is a principle of law called "informed consent" which means in your case that your doctors should have advised you about the risks of the procedure. Your facts indicate that you were not warned of the risk of sterility - although you apparently knew of the risk as you took precautionary steps. Your damages hinge on whether your were informed of the risks, and whether the medical procedure was properly performed. If the proper application of radiation should NOT have resulted in sterility, then may have a case. If the doctors did not warn you of the risk of sterility you may also have a case. However, if you were warned of the risk by any of your doctors, just because one doctor told you not to worry, you may not have a case simply because she told you to destroy the sample - unless you relied on her advice. (Which apparently you did not.)

This is a case which must be decided after a careful review of the facts in light of standard accepted medical practices. You should consult with a competent attorney to have your case reviewed. There is a two year statute of limitations from the date of discovery which governs your case.

This response is intended to be a general response discussing some of the legal principles which may apply to these general facts. The inquirer is advised to seek personal legal assistance.

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Answered on 9/24/02, 8:47 am


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