Medical Ethics
Although about two-thirds of doctors responding to the survey did agree that they should disclose serious medical errors to patients, about one-third did not completely agree that they should.
Nearly two-fifths said they did not completely agree that they should disclose their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients, and just over one-tenth said that, in the previous year, they had told patients something that was not true.
Source: Survey published in Health Affairs.
This is something you’d expect from your Congressman, not from your doctor.
If we can’t trust our doctors, which are the people we go to and entrust with our care, then who can we trust? It is mind blowing that physicians, who spend years and years studying and learning the importance of being honest and truthful to their patients, who are aware of the consequences of lying and keeping relevant information from them, actually play along.
This is not just about people getting the flu, or going for a routinary check up, but about people with life threatening diseases that are trusting their lives in the hands of unscrupulous “professionals” that are only looking after themselves and not their patients’ best interest.
Maybe the government should spend less time passing insignificant regulations on contraceptives and birth control forcing the Catholic Church to agree with something that goes against their faith and their belief, and that ultimately will not kill anyone, and spend more time implementing severe actions to those physicians that, for one reason or another, are leaving their patients in the dark, and that could ultimately end or severely affect someone’s life.
They should disclose as much as possible. Their relationships with drug companies is important to the extent that they are going to potentially push those drugs on their patients (and not push other drugs).
The devil is in the details and I have not read the details, but where does placebo effect fall in the equation?
If an orthopedic surgeon thinks a particular company makes the best hip prosthesis and invests in the company, how do you propose to have her “disclose” this information before your surgery? How will that information influence your decision to agree to the operation? Or would one suggest doctors be prohibited from any investments in medical product companies? Not very free market. And remember, doctors are sometimes the very inventors or innovators of the products used every day.
I do not defend all doctors, but my experience is most use the products they find are the best. Most do respect the oath. And remember medical liability? After gaining confidence in a product they may later invest in the company.
I wonder who the two-fifths considers to be their customer? Is it the patient; or is it the supplier? Some medical suppliers are paying consulting fees, which are little more than kickbacks for prescribing or using a certain brand of product. In other cases, the relationship is one where what a doctor learns or observes treating patients is passed on to manufacturers, boosting research and improving patient care in the process. If the financial relationship is legitimate, I see no reason why it should not be disclosed.
I agree that disclosure is very important. Many times patient do not tell everything involving their care because they do not trust the doctor and/or they feel they will be judged for the information they provide. I think anytime there is an error it should be reported to the patient. I further think this is not done because of so many lawsuits in the medical profession. Depending on the extent of the error this could be very costly for the doctor and some may feel it’s better to monitor the patient and correct the error as needed. As far as the medications, I feel this too should be disclosed when there is a relationship with the pharmacist. The patient should be given the affects and benefits of both and valid information on why one is better than the other. because money is involved in these situations it will probably go on forever.