Physicians’Perspectives of Informed Consent for Medical Procedures:A Qualitative Interview Study

This work is based on an on-going research on medical informed consent in Papua New Guinea(PNG)with 19 doctors from hospitals,health care centers and private medical establishments in the National Capital District and Central Province who voluntarily participated in the study.The authors conducted an examination of doctors’understanding of informed consent for medical procedures through a qualitative interview study and we describe our findings.We saw a need to involved patients in decision-making about their care,ethical imperative and concerns about litigation and their complaints highlighted the issue of informed consent.In order for the patients to make an informed decision about medical procedure,the doctors involved in the proposed treatment should conduct the informed consent discussion.The discussion should include the treatment,the risks and benefits of treatment,and alternative therapies with associated risks and benefits.We studied doctors’perspectives of gaining informed consent for routine medical procedures.We used qualitative study methods using structured interviews selected by purposive sampling.The data collected were entered into a data base and were analyzed thematically.The discussion is based on review of legal decisions,commentaries and our personal experience in studying medical malpractice cases.We have utilized case reports and several informative writings that have appeared in the world literature,as well as selections from vast amounts of material available in USA,UK,Australia,India and PNG.The current informed consent processes do not appear to be ideal for many doctors in PNG.In particular,there are inhibiting factors that affect patients from making medical informed decisions,doctors find time not enough to run discussions on informed consent,Department of Health does not have a standard informed consent form,patients complain about no consent form,and they have not signed consent forms.These are but some issues that affect patients when trying to make informed decisions.We say that informed consent process flows from the relationship between doctor and patient,however when this does not occur,serious legal and ethical consequences may result.This report is not intended to be specific advice on any private legal matter.

Culture within Informed Consent:Papua New Guinea Perspective

This paper examines informed consent in medical practice.We have explored the notion of consent and determined its underlying theory and important attributes.We argue that consent is a permissive state of mind that waives the right to bodily integrity.Once communicated to the actor the permission takes effect by justifying the intervention and legitimizing the virtuous exercise of the doctor’s power.The process is usually formally documented by the reading and signing of a“consent form”by both the patient and the doctor who is proposing the treatment that takes place within a clinical setting.Many people grow up in the traditional communities where the idea of informed consent is undeveloped and tend to be passive in their roles in the informed consent process.We have gathered from this study that people tend to stick to their traditional customs and custom has become a source of their rules,brings people together,shares food,and uses for resolving issues in family,land,water rights,and compensation following disputes.In other words,peoples’ways of life revolve around their traditional customs.Family wellbeing decisions and especially health care are usually a family matter but not an individual.Going to receive health care services at the hospital or modern health care center for medical treatment is enough to make a patient say they do not want to follow through the clinical procedure including the process of informed consent.A medical consent form is a common form used in health care facilities to obtain medical consent for a certain treatment or medical procedure or dental.We found in the interview questionnaires that many patients do not understand the use of consent forms.We examined informed consent in the context of the people’s culture and how the healthcare professionals handle the situation with patients that have widespread customs,beliefs and opinions which they strictly adhere to and practice.

Preoperative rectal tumor embolization as an adjunctive tool for bloodless abdominoperineal excision:A case report

BACKGROUND Abdominoperineal excision(APE)-related hemorrhage can be challenging due to difficult access to pelvic organs and the risk of massive blood loss.The objective of the present study was to demonstrate the use of preoperative embolization(PE)as a strategy for blood preservation in a patient with a large low rectal tumor with a high risk of bleeding,scheduled for APE.CASE SUMMARY A 56-year-old man presented to our institution with a one-year history of anal bleeding and rectal tenesmus.The patient was diagnosed with bulky adenocarcinoma limited to the rectum.As the patient refused any clinical treatment,surgery without previous neoadjuvant chemoradiation was indicated.The patient underwent a tumor embolization procedure,two days before surgery performed via the right common femoral artery.The tumor was successfully devascularized and no major bleeding was noted during APE.Postoperative recovery was uneventful and a one-year follow-up showed no signs of recurrence.CONCLUSION Therapeutic tumor embolization may play a role in bloodless surgeries and increase surgical and oncologic prognoses.We describe a patient with a bulky low rectal tumor who successfully underwent preoperative embolization and bloodless abdominoperineal resection.

Female Look Anxiety - A Study of the Commodification of the Body of Girls in Plastic Surgery Circles

Through this research study,by examining the issue of the commodification of plastic surgery circle girls'bodies as a whole,we discover the historical and contemporary contextual factors that have led to this problem and the impacts it generates in our current environment.Exploring the causes and development of this issue can,to some extent,aid women in breaking free from the position of being objectified,thus mitigating appearance anxiety.It is advised that women avoid becoming overly immersed in the transformative effects of medical cosmetic procedures and work towards liberating themselves from the commodification of their bodies.