Munro

Alexander Munro, a minor by and through his guardians ad litem Pamela and Allen Munro, and Pamela and Allen Munro, individually, sued the Regents of the University of California, doing business as UCLA Medical Center, and Barbara Crandall for medical malpractice and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs appeal from summary judgment entered against them and in favor of defendants.

Facts

Plaintiffs Pamela and Allen Munro are a married couple. In September 1984 Mrs. Munro saw Dr. William Growdon, an obstetrician-gynecologist. Dr. Growdon confirmed that Mrs. Munro, then 37 years old, was pregnant with her second child. Because of the increased risk of Down’s Syndrome in children bom to women over the age of 35, Dr. Growdon referred Mrs. Munro to defendant Barbara Crandall, a physician, for genetic counseling.

In October 1984 Mrs. Munro met with Dr. Crandall at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. At this meeting Dr. Crandall took a family history of Mr. and Mrs. Munro. Mrs. Munro told Dr. Crandall her father’s background was “primarily German” and her mother’s background was English and Canadian. She said that her husband’s father’s father…

I concur in the result the majority reaches but not in its reasoning.

For the reasons I explained at length in my dissent in Scalere v. Stenson (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 1446, 1454 [ 260 Cal.Rptr. 152 ], a doctor’s duty of disclosure includes the duty of explaining the risks and benefits of nontreatment. (Id. at p. 1455.) This duty arises from the same principle that imposes a duty to explain the risks and benefits of treatment: “so that patients might meaningfully exercise their right to make decisions about their own bodies. . . .” (Truman v. Thomas (1980) 27 Cal.3d 285, 292 [ 165 Cal.Rptr. *990 308 , 611 P.2d 902 ].) Whether the physician’s recommendation is to treat or not to treat, or, as here, to test or not to test, there are risks and benefits to either course which must be explained to the patient.

The principle that a doctor’s duty of disclosure includes the duty of explaining the risks of not performing tests has been recognized in other jurisdictions. For example, in Goldberg by and through Goldberg v. Ruskin (1984) 128 Ill.App.3d 1029 [ 471 N.E.2d 530, 537 ], affd. on appeal from a separate issue (Ill. 1986) 499 N.E.2d 406, 407 , the court held the parents stated a…

Alexander Munro, a minor by and through his guardians ad litem Pamela and Allen Munro, and Pamela and Allen Munro, individually, sued the Regents of the University of California, doing business as UCLA Medical Center, and Barbara Crandall for medical malpractice and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs appeal from summary judgment entered against them and in favor of defendants.

Plaintiffs Pamela and Allen Munro are a married couple. In September 1984 Mrs. Munro saw Dr. William Growdon, an obstetrician-gynecologist. Dr. Growdon confirmed that Mrs. Munro, then 37 years old, was pregnant with her second child. Because of the increased risk of Down's Syndrome in children born to women over the age of 35, Dr. Growdon referred Mrs. Munro to defendant Barbara Crandall, a physician, for genetic counseling.

In October 1984 Mrs. Munro met with Dr. Crandall at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. At this meeting Dr. Crandall took a family history of Mr. and Mrs. Munro. Mrs. Munro told Dr. Crandall her father's background was "primarily German" and her mother's background was English and Canadian. She said that her husband's father's…