The patient appears to have decision-making capacity, has head trauma, a headache despite intoxication, and is irritable—and she refuses a CT scan of the head.
Consent sounds like a laborious process that requires much time. Actually discussing a procedure or exam with a patient doesn’t take much more time than it took to read this paragraph.
Physicians make patients aware of those interventions that they (the patients) may then refuse. In short, informed consent is less about patient decisions than it is about restraining physicians.
Katherine Gentry, MD, MA and Aaron Wightman, MD, MA
A patient’s refusal of tracheostomy during an anticipated difficult intubation prompts critical questions about how to best express respect for a pediatric patient’s autonomy and whether and when deviation from standard of care is clinically and ethically appropriate.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(8):E683-689. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.683.
Alexander Craig, MPhil and Elizabeth Dzeng, MD, PhD, MPH
Eliciting the patient’s motives and goals and helping the patient and her loved ones explore alternatives are essential to maintaining trusting relationships and open communication.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(8):E690-698. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.690.
Robert Ledbetter and Dr Buddy Marterre join Ethics Talk to discuss their article: “Where’s the Value in Preoperative Covenants Between Surgeons and Patients?”
Amy Scharf(理学硕士), Louis Voigt(医学博士), Santosha Vardhana(医学博士、哲学博士), Konstantina Matsoukas(图书情报硕士), Lisa M. Wall(哲学博士、注册护士、临床护理专家、高级肿瘤临床护理专家、已获认证的医疗保健伦理顾问), Maria Arevalo(注册护士、肿瘤专科护士), and Lisa C. Diamond(医学博士、公共卫生硕士)
AMA J Ethics. 2021;E97-108. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.97.
Amy Schart, MS, Louis Voigt, MD, Santosha Vardhana, MD, PhD, Konstantina Matsoukas, MLIS, Lisa M. Wall, PhD, RN, CNS, AOCNS, HEC-C, María Arévalo, RN, OCN, and Lisa C. Diamond, MD, MPH
AMA J Ethics. 2021;E97-108. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.97.