Dilemmas of medical ethics in the Canadian Penitentiary Service.
(1/1957)
There is a unique hospital in Canada-and perhaps in the world-because it is built outside prison walls and it exists specifically for the psychiatric treatment of prisoners. It is on the one hand a hospital and on the other a prison. Moreover it has to provide the same quality and standard of care which is expected of a hospital associated with a university. From the time the hospital was established moral dilemmas appeared which were concerned with conflicts between the medical and custodial treatment of prisoners, and also with the attitudes of those having the status of prisoner-patient. Dr Roy describes these dilemmas and attitudes, and in particular a special conference which was convened to discuss them. Not only doctors and prison officials took part in this meeting but also general practitioners, theologians, philosophers, ex-prisoners, judges, lawyers, Members of Parliament and Senators. This must have been a unique occasion and Dr Roy's description may provide the impetus to examine these prison problems in other settings. (+info)
Medicolegal file.(2/1957)
Tell everything you know about birth control pills.
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Consent obtained by the junior house officer--is it informed?
(3/1957)
Of 30 junior house officers questioned, 21 had obtained patients' consent for colonoscopy. Of these 21, about one-third did not routinely discuss with patients the risks of perforation and haemorrhage. Ideally, consent should be obtained by a person capable of performing the procedure. If it is to be obtained by junior house officers, they need to know exactly what must be disclosed about each procedure. This could easily be done as part of the induction package. (+info)
Conditions required for a law on active voluntary euthanasia: a survey of nurses' opinions in the Australian Capital Territory.
(4/1957)
OBJECTIVES: To ascertain which conditions nurses believe should be in a law allowing active voluntary euthanasia (AVE). DESIGN: Survey questionnaire posted to registered nurses (RNs). SETTING: Australian Capital Territory (ACT) at the end of 1996, when active voluntary euthanasia was legal in the Northern Territory. SURVEY SAMPLE: A random sample of 2,000 RNs, representing 54 per cent of the RN population in the ACT. MAIN MEASURES: Two methods were used to look at nurses' opinions. The first involved four vignettes which varied in terms of critical characteristics of each patient who was requesting help to die. The respondents were asked if the law should be changed to allow any of these requests. There was also a checklist of conditions, most of which have commonly been included in Australian proposed laws on AVE. The respondents chose those which they believed should apply in a law on AVE. RESULTS: The response rate was 61%. Support for a change in the law to allow AVE was 38% for a young man with AIDS, 39% for an elderly man with early stage Alzheimer's disease, 44% for a young woman who had become quadriplegic and 71% for a middle-aged woman with metastases from breast cancer. The conditions most strongly supported in any future AVE law were: "second doctor's opinion", "cooling off period", "unbearable protracted suffering", "patient fully informed about illness and treatment" and "terminally ill". There was only minority support for "not suffering from treatable depression", "administer the fatal dose themselves" and "over a certain age". CONCLUSION: Given the lack of support for some conditions included in proposed AVE laws, there needs to be further debate about the conditions required in any future AVE bills. (+info)
Relationships between various attitudes towards self-determination in health care with special reference to an advance directive.
(5/1957)
OBJECTIVES: The subject of patient self-determination in health care has gained broad interest because of the increasing number of incompetent patients. In an attempt to solve the problems related to doctors' decision making in such circumstances, advance directives have been developed. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between public attitudes towards patient autonomy and advance directives. SUBJECTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A stratified random sample of 600 adults in northern Sweden was surveyed by a questionnaire with a response rate of 78.2%. The subjects were asked about their wish for control of their health care, their concerns about health care, their treatment preferences in a life-threatening situation (both reversible and irreversible), and their attitudes towards the application of advance directives. RESULTS: Numerous relationships between various aspects of self-determination in health care (desire for control, fears of over-treatment, and choice of treatment level) in general and advance directives, in particular, were found. Those who wanted to have a say in their health care (about 94%) also mainly supported the use of an advance directive. CONCLUSIONS: The fact that almost 30% of the respondents were undecided concerning their personal use of advance directives points to a lack of knowledge and to the necessity of education of the public on these issues. (+info)
Epidemiology and screening for prostate cancer.
(6/1957)
This activity is designed for primary care physicians, internists, and general audiences. GOAL: To provide the reader with a basic understanding of the controversy surrounding population-based prostate cancer screening and of the tools needed to conduct early detection programs for prostate cancer among enrollees. OBJECTIVES: 1. Become familiar with the national debate regarding population-based prostate cancer screening. 2. Learn the essential elements of prostate specific antigen testing for patients. 3. Understand the cost-effectiveness and medico-legal/informed consent issues surrounding prostate cancer detection and screening. (+info)
Risks and benefits of coronary angioplasty: the patients perspective: a preliminary study.
(7/1957)
OBJECTIVES: To describe what cardiac patients in Northern Ireland understand to be the benefits of coronary angioplasty and assess the extent to which they have been able to make informed choices about their treatment. DESIGN: An interview based questionnaire survey completed after the patients had undergone coronary angiography, within hours of treatment counselling. SUBJECTS: 150 patients consecutively recruited from two regional cardiology centres in Belfast, Northern Ireland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The perceived complication rate and the perceived gain in life expectancy from coronary angioplasty. RESULTS: Although most subjects had asked the consultant questions, 70% (n = 104) thought that they contributed negligibly or not at all to the treatment decision. Although 75% (n = 112) recalled discussing the complication rate from the procedure, only 27% accurately estimated this rate (as between 0.5 and 1.5%). Eighty eight per cent (n = 131) thought that their mortality risks would be substantially or greatly reduced by having the procedure. The patients anticipated a gain in life expectancy of some 10 years (median) and this was significantly in excess of the potential gain in life expectancy which dietary prudence to lower blood cholesterol, not smoking, and taking more exercise might produce (median 5 years respectively; P < 0.0001, Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test). CONCLUSIONS: Patients vastly overrate the capacity of angioplasty to control their disease: angioplasty is seen as more effective than risk factor modification. (+info)
Inquiry into the potential value of an information pamphlet on consent to surgery to improve surgeon-patient communication.
(8/1957)
OBJECTIVES: To find out how patients recently undergoing surgery experienced the consenting process and the response of these patients to a pamphlet on consent to surgery. To test the reaction of health professionals to the pamphlet. DESIGN: A pilot pamphlet was produced and a questionnaire was sent to patients inquiring about their consenting experience, and how the pamphlet might have helped them through the consent procedure. A pamphlet and a questionnaire were also sent to a random sample of the health professionals serving these patients. SUBJECTS: Patients and health professionals. RESULTS: 61% of patients returned the questionnaire. Knowledge about the consent procedure was shown to be limited. 49% were unaware that they had the right to insist that the surgeon could only perform the specified operation and nothing more. 83% were unaware that they could add something in writing to the consent form before signing. 28% of health professionals returned their questionnaire, most of whom thought that the pamphlet provided a useful contribution to surgeon-patient communication. CONCLUSION: Evidence shows that patients are not well informed about consenting to surgery and further information would provide much needed guidance on understanding their role in the consent procedure. The low response from the health professional study is perhaps an indication that at present this is an issue which is not seen as a priority. (+info)