Doctors' personal beliefs may hinder care

[shesulsa]

A disturbing number of doctors do not feel obligated to tell patients about medical options they oppose morally, such as abortion and teen birth control, and believe they have no duty to refer people elsewhere for such treatments, researchers say.

The survey of 1,144 doctors around the country is the first major look at how physicians' religious or moral beliefs might affect patients' care.


The study, conducted by University of Chicago researchers, found 86 percent of those responding believe doctors are obligated to present all treatment options, and 71 percent believe they must refer patients to another doctor for treatments they oppose. Slightly more than half the rest said they had no such obligation; the others were undecided.

"That means that there are a lot of physicians out there who are not, in fact, doing the right thing," said David Magnus, director of Stanford University's Center for Biomedical Ethics.

Link to full article

The article has the following corrections:

An article about doctors’ personal beliefs impacting patient care published Feb. 7 stated that a study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that 14 percent of physicians believe it is acceptable to withhold information about controversial topics such as birth control, and that 29 percent feel no obligation to tell patients where they can go to get such care. In fact, the study said 8 percent of surveyed doctors believe withholding such information is acceptable, and 18 percent don’t feel obligated to refer patients elsewhere for care.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

I heard an interview yesterday about this on NPR. Very interesting and a little scary.

Jeff

 

[Infinite]

It isn't surprising we give these people the power to tell us what is best for us. We don't question it typically and often times we have no need to.

You go to the doctor he gives you what you need to get better. If a doctor thinks one operation may help but the risks are too high against your quality of life he likely won't mention it.

Most doctors assume the patient does some sort of reading or knoweldge about their chronic problems so if a new technique is developed you talk it over with your doctor. This implies to the doctor that the quality of life he thought you had isn't quite right. You are seeking additional options to help manage the problem.

Now morally is a whole different issue which this is more focused on. In the end pro-choice people take their kids to pro-choice doctors. Pro-lifers do the same and if they want their kid to not have an abortion its their right.

I mean its not like kids don't know about it so my former statements play more to that event.

--Infy

 

[Kenpodoc]

Ethically one should always lay out a balanced response to any medical question. That's the ideal. Practically, no one has time to review every option for every patient. Further, I've never met anyone sane who could totally divorce themselves from their own opinions. The answer should be two fold. 1) Further efforts to help physicians to understand the source of their biases and to honestly consider these biases 2) Patients need to seek physicians who at some level mirror their own biases.

 

[Ping898]

I saw this a little while ago too....this is why second or even third opinions are important on anything big and you should also always do your own research.....even if what you find is wrong, it at leasthelps you know some questions to ask....

 

[Phoenix44]

Very disturbing. About as disturbing as the pharmacists who won't stock or dispense Plan B.

I wouldn't go to a doctor who has the same biases as I do...I'd go to a doctor I think is smart, qualified, ethical, and personable. Not telling the patient all the appropriate options for any reason is unethical, and would constitute failure to obtain informed consent.

 

[tellner]

Does that mean a pharmacist with deeply held religious beliefs in WCC or some other Identity Faith doesn't have to give drugs to muds or Jews? Can a Jehovah's Witness doctor refuse to give blood transfusions?

Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of the State-supported Church.

 

[Empty Hands]

Most doctors assume the patient does some sort of reading or knoweldge about their chronic problems so if a new technique is developed you talk it over with your doctor.

I think most assume the opposite. Also, when you bring up your reading, use the proper terms, or intimate your knowledge of medicine, it really annoys the hell out of some of them. Far too many docs I have had experience with want to tell you what is going on, they don't want to be questioned, and if you get in the way of the game plan you are an obstruction, not a sick person.

My wife has poor health generally, so I have seen more than my share of this. I also have a medical background, so my wife knows what is going on. You would not believe the dismissive attitude, and the blatantly insulting comments she gets. Those docs were lucky I wasn't in the room for some of them and only found out later.

I think many women in particular face sexist attitudes in this regard. No one has ever had the nerve to say the things to my face they will say to my wife, and she is no shrinking violet either.

 

[Kacey]

In the past (I don't know if this is still true; I have a different insurer now) I know people who chose their Kaiser doctor by location to avoid a particular hospital that was affiliated with Kaiser - because as a Catholic hospital, it would not perform certain pregnancy-related procedures unless the mother's life was in danger, no matter what the law said - and that included someone I knew who's baby died in utero (severe congenital malformities), who had to wait until she went into toxic shock before they would perform a D & C to remove the dead fetus, because - dead fetus or not - they didn't perform abortions NO MATTER WHAT unless the mother's life was in danger. That's when I decided to switch insurers... so I could switch doctors and hospitals.

 

[Amazon]

I think most assume the opposite. Also, when you bring up your reading, use the proper terms, or intimate your knowledge of medicine, it really annoys the hell out of some of them. Far too many docs I have had experience with want to tell you what is going on, they don't want to be questioned, and if you get in the way of the game plan you are an obstruction, not a sick person.

My wife has poor health generally, so I have seen more than my share of this. I also have a medical background, so my wife knows what is going on. You would not believe the dismissive attitude, and the blatantly insulting comments she gets. Those docs were lucky I wasn't in the room for some of them and only found out later.

I think many women in particular face sexist attitudes in this regard. No one has ever had the nerve to say the things to my face they will say to my wife, and she is no shrinking violet either.

Hi all - I'm his wife. Everything he has said is absolutely true.