“The Power of Informed Consent,” by Peter Mullenix and Patrick Malone, Trial magazine, December 2020. Download the PDF Version Here – The Power of Informed Consent
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Informed Consent
Informed consent is an important issue for medical malpractice, and more importantly, for high quality medical care. But it’s widely misunderstood. What Informed Consent Means Everyone who has had any medical or surgical procedure has signed a consent form — usually lots of intimidating words, small print, hard to read, and seldom explained well. Consent….
Continue ReadingMedical Malpractice and Informed Consent: A True Story
Here’s an important question: When a doctor has a hunch that his patient would receive better care elsewhere, should he inform the patient and send him to another provider? Research has shown that facilities that perform high volumes of a certain procedure do it better than those that perform the procedure less frequently. The difference….
Continue ReadingOne Surgeon’s Call for True Informed Consent
Approximately 40 million people undergo surgery every year. Writing on KevinMD.com, Dr. Paul Ruggieri asks: How many of those patients are informed of their surgeon’s track record? Not many, he surmises. In a refreshing post of what’s-good-for-the-goose-is-good-for-the-gander, Ruggieri, a surgeon, argues that unless patients have access to the same information about doctors that hospitals and….
Continue ReadingImproving the “Informed Consent” Process with Old-Fashioned Conversation
Everyone who has had any medical or surgical procedure has signed a consent form — usually lots of intimidating words, hard to read, and seldom explained well. There is a better way, and it involves recognizing that true “consent” is not about signing a form, but it’s about old-fashioned conversation — a real dialogue between….
Continue ReadingWisconsin Law Proposes to Keep Patients Less Informed
We’ve written about the wide range of state authority and competence in regulating medical practice, (for example, here and here.) Mostly, compromised patient safety occurs because of official acts of omission; rarely does a state appear to commit to compromising patient safety. But as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and analyzed by Pop Tort,….
Continue ReadingA paper chase with health and financial benefits
Tens of millions of us endured the annual paper chase of tracking down and sorting through receipts and forms so we could file income tax returns. Here’s another paper exercise that promises more personal benefits than just staying out of trouble with the taxman: chasing down, saving and following up on our medical records. Yes,….
Continue ReadingPatients can improve their own surgical outcomes
All medical interventions carry risks. Too many of us learned this truth all too painfully during the coronavirus pandemic. But in the crush to return to full normalcy, with huge numbers of folks racing to undergo postponed tests and procedures, will too many trusting patients experience disappointment — or worse — by failing to exercise one….
Continue ReadingRebounding to better health in the new year — and beyond
We all know about new year resolutions and their short life expectancy. Yeah, we’ll exercise more, eat less, and do all that other good stuff. And then inertia sets in, and nothing much happens. Can this year be different? The coronavirus pandemic has taken a sustained, terrible toll on Americans’ health. U.S. life expectancy has plunged, our deaths still exceed norms, and other….
Continue ReadingGetting and keeping your own medical records: It’s a boon to better health
A laptop and a cardboard box. These two items could be major tools in improving regular folks’ health throughout this year — and beyond — if they get launched on important tasks, pronto. What needs to happen is for patients to be hyperconscious, persistent, and skeptical enough to start gathering vital records about themselves and….
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