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Old 01-22-2011, 07:05 PM
Alumiyum Alumiyum is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AOII Angel View Post
Really. You think that as a lay person you can really look at a x-ray, CT, ultrasound and decide if you need a procedure? You are using the information given to you by the physician. The exam could be completely normal, especially in the case of US (which is very user dependent and results in pseudolesions especially in breast quite frequently), and if the MD told you it was abnormal, even another MD who isn't a radiologist wouldn't know they were wrong. How are you as an untrained person supposed to know what you are looking at? It may make you feel better that you saw all of your films, but for informed consent, it is completely unnecessary for a patient to see all of their studies before an exam. I get informed consent from patients 5 times a day and actually show patients their films very infrequently. When I do show it to them, they have no idea what they are looking at. If I wanted to, I could point anything out to them as an abnormality, and they'd have no idea I was wrong. At some point, you have to trust what your physician is telling you. Informed consent is about telling you the risks and benefits of the procedure, giving you alternatives for treatment and answering any questions you have. It's not about show and tell.
Exactly. I've had X-Rays to determine if I had irregularities related to a health condition. I didn't ask to look at the prints because I didn't need to. All I needed was the doctor to confirm that there were no irregularities and give me more details. Had I ended up needing a procedure, that wouldn't have changed. What am I going to see on that print that I NEED to see to make a decision? I would have no idea whatsoever what I was looking at either way. I do hope I am never in a position where I have to make the decision to have an abortion or not, but I do know seeing an ultrasound wouldn't be necessary to make the decision. And I absolutely object to being forced to see it. It IS MEANT to be manipulative. I was not forced to see my X-Ray, and wouldn't have been forced to see it even if I had needed a procedure. Why is this different?
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