No consent: patients probed by medical students – Madison Magazine.
Something has been up at the Australian teaching hospitals. Seems that the body cavities of patients are being “gang-examined” while said patients are in states of semi- or unconsciousness, without prior consent. In other words, Senior faculty members at medical schools have been ordering medical students to examine these patients intimately without prior consent having been given. Eighty two percent of the medical students in this study were willing to follow the directives.
This figure agrees with Pharmer’s long standing estimate that eighty percent of health care practitioners would be willing to toss away medical ethics concerns if their job status were at stake. The training starts early.
Having observed the moral/ethical decline of the health care industry, this article falls into the no surprise department.
Once the killing and the healing have become mixed, could one expect any better respect for patient autonomy than has been apparently exhibited in these cases?
