The Right To Know?

Soooo....

Last week i had the pleasure of serving as a juror for 6 days and it was a true eye opener.

Without going into too much of the detail, it was a medical malpractice case with a question of neglect.

A woman who had abnormal bleeding was ordered an ultrasound in which the results said there could be a possibility of "carcinoma" which screams cancer. Although the test wasn't positive for cancer, the test didnt rule it out either. The problem was, neither of the doctors told her of these results, they only told her she had an abnormal ultrasound, not of the possibility of cancer.

So the question was, did the patient have the right to know that her ultrasound results mentioned cancer, even though it wasnt totally positive?

For me personally, although i could be biased, i think i would want to know everything. Tell me every possibility, just in case -- hey, that's what they do in surgery. They tell you all the risk factors up front so that you can make a decision as to whether or not to go through with whatever the procedure is. Just because there is a slim chance 10% or even 2%, doesn't rull out the possibility, there's still a chance.

Have you ever read the lable on those birth control pills? Not only is there still a 0.5% or 0.1% possibility of pregnancy, (depending on which brand you use) yes, there's still possibility of pregnancy. They can also cause depression, weight gain, high blood pressure or even blood clots which can be deadly. Do you know some people have died from these blood clots related to the use of oral contraceptives? Although nobody is really walked though the risk factors of 'the pill', there is a huge discloser included of the proper use and risk factors, except, nobody really reads them.

According to the Patient's Bill of Rights at one of our local hospitals: "You have the right to full information in layman’s terms, concerning diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, including information about alternative treatments and possible complications. When it is not medically advisable that such information be given to you, the information shall be given on your behalf to your designated/legal representative. Except for emergencies, the physician must obtain the necessary informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment, or both"

Had this woman known the results of her ultrasound, she could have chose to have a surgery that would have allowed her to possibly be here today.

Until next time...
Stay alive and kickin....
NaughtyNurseBSN