New Jersey obstetrician-gynecologist wins informed consent case

The doctor was not negligent for failing to explain the psychological risks of terminating a pregnancy.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Jan. 5, 2004.

In a lawsuit involving informed consent for an abortion procedure, a New Jersey judge has ruled that a pregnant woman's physician was not required to express a moral, philosophical or religious judgment that went beyond medical information before gaining that consent.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Amy Chambers said that Sheldon C. Turkish, MD, a Perth Amboy, N.J., obstetrician-gynecologist, was not required to make a statement to patient Rose Acuna that the fetus or embryo is a living being. The judge ruled that Dr. Turkish was not negligent.

"When plaintiff insists that the doctor should have told her that she would be terminating the life of a living human being, she is asking for more than impartial medical information," Chambers wrote in her decision.

Acuna's attorney has filed a motion for reconsideration in Chambers' court. "The law requires the doctor to explain the procedure, to explain the risks," said Harold J. Cassidy of Holmdel, N.J. "She is entitled to be told of a risk of significant psychological harm that could be lasting."

Dr. Turkish's attorney, John Jackson, would not comment.

After a sonogram confirmed that Acuna's pregnancy was in the first trimester, Dr. Turkish and Acuna discussed terminating the pregnancy.