Medical Ethics and Legalities

(Posted on 28/01/11)

Medical Education is preparing to publish a controversial - and perhaps even disturbing - article in its next issue. It involves unauthorized examinations on patients, intrusive procedures with no consent and reveals what might be the mindset of some Australian and UK medical students who view ethics as more of a grey area. Unfortunately for these med students, there may be legalities involved with their loose ethics and "intrusive exams".

The study, as mentioned, involves medical students in the UK and Australia. The research was conducted and what was discovered included one student who had "no qualms" about performing an intimate examination on a female patient because she did not believe consent was relevant. Another discovery included unauthorized examinations by several med students on the same patient. These examinations included genital areas and breast exams after a patient had been anesthetized.

The study raised concerns over those who allow these examinations to occur and questioned what it referred to as "weak ethics". Further, the study discovered 82% of those students complied with the orders of senior medical staff. One student said she refused to take part in one of the examinations after witnessing a nurse attempt to pull down the patient's pants as the patient lay "spread-eagle" on the examination table. She said the patient couldn't have been older than 17. Another student said patients in these positions do not have "the confidence to say no".

Along with the ethical repercussions, there are legalities to be considered as well. This raises an entirely new set of questions, including the liability of the three medical schools located in the U.K. and Australia. To date, they have not been named.

The CEO of the Consumer Health Forum of Australia, Carol Bennett, said after reading the study that this was indicative of a "poor reflection on these medical schools as they are the ones setting these examples". The study concluded by saying "most patients would not be pleased".