Burton v. Brooklyn Doctors Hospital

Daniel Burton (plaintiff) was born five to six weeks premature and was transferred to New York Hospital (the hospital) (defendant). Although Burton’s condition remained good, Dr. Mary Engle (defendant) ordered a prolonged increase in the concentration of oxygen in Burton’s incubator. Engle was part of a team studying the role of oxygen in causing retrolental fibroplasis (RLF) in premature infants. According to the study’s protocol, evidence would be collected from premature infants, two-thirds of whom would receive reduced oxygen and one-third of whom would receive increased oxygen. Engle later testified that at the time of Burton’s birth, there was no consensus in the medical community as to whether premature infants were better or worse off with increased oxygen but that providing prolonged oxygen was routine practice. Engle had been a coauthor of a previous study on oxygen and RLF, and Engle acknowledged that many doctors had concluded based on that study and other studies that increased oxygen night be unnecessary and dangerous for premature infants. The prolonged exposure to a high concentration of oxygen caused Burton to develop RLF, leading to his blindness. Burton’s parents were never informed that Burton had been placed in a study testing premature infants or that Burton’s oxygen had been increased. Burton’s father had signed a consent form that was general in nature and did not contain any explanation of the risks involved. In 1975, Burton sued the hospital and Engle for medical malpractice and for failure to obtain informed consent from his parents. The jury found the hospital and Engle liable. The hospital and Engle appealed on the ground that there was no law in New York at the time mandating physicians to disclose risks to obtain informed consent.