Only a physician—not a member of the physician's staff—can obtain informed consent from a patient prior to a medical procedure, a splintered Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.

In the same case, the justices also tackled the issue of how close a prospective juror's employment relationship with a defendant must be to require disqualification.

In Shinal v. Toms, the court ruled 4-3 to grant a new trial to plaintiff Megan Shinal, who underwent brain surgery performed by defendant Dr. Steven A. Toms, the chief of neurosurgery at Geisinger Clinic in Danville, and suffered a perforated carotid artery.