The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated on Monday that written agreement from patients is required before performing sensitive procedures like pelvic and prostate exams. The letter was issued to teaching hospitals and medical schools around the nation.
It stated that it “is aware of media reports as well as medical and scientific literature, highlighting instances where, as part of medical students’ courses of study and training, patients have been subjected to sensitive and intimate examinations, including pelvic, breast, prostate or rectal examinations, while under anesthesia without proper informed consent being obtained prior to the examination.”
“It is critically important that hospitals set clear guidelines to ensure providers and trainees performing these examinations first obtain and document informed consent from patients before performing sensitive examinations in all circumstances,” the FDA stated in its letter.
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Pelvic And Prostate Exams
In addition, the HHS released updated regulations that provided clarification on a long-standing need that hospitals get written informed consent in order to be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.
“While we recognize that medical training for patients is an important aspect of medical education, this guidance aligns with the standard of care of many major medical organizations, as well as state laws that have enacted explicit protections as well,” according to the HHS. “Informed consent is the law and essential to maintaining trust in the patient-provider relationship and respecting patients’ autonomy.”
Pelvic And Prostate Exams
However, it hasn’t always been the case.
A New York Times investigation in 2020 discovered that physicians, hospitals, and medical students occasionally performed pelvic exams on women who were sedated, even in cases when the patients had not given permission or the exams were not medically necessary. Occasionally, the only purpose of these tests was to instruct medical students.
Pelvic And Prostate Exams
Ashley Weitz, who was sedated in an emergency room and had an unauthorized pelvic exam, told the Times that “patients who are participating in future clinicians’ education should be aware, should have the opportunity to consent, and should be given the same opportunity to participate in that education that they would be given if they were awake and fully clothed.” “We can only anticipate greater public confidence in medicine when both patients and providers can expect a standard of care that prioritizes patient consent.”
Pelvic And Prostate Exams
Also read: The Law On Free Access To Morning After Pill For Those Over 15 Is Vetoed By The President Of Poland
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