How EMRs are making informed consent meaningless

Recently, getting dressed after working out in the gym, the guy in the next locker decided to complain to me about his recent surgery. Having lockers next to each other had led over time to “What do you do for a living?” After discovering that I was a physician he has occasionally asked some medical questions, and done what a lot of people do when they know you’re a health care provider, which is complain about the health care system in general. He had had a repeat surgery on his lower back for a herniated disc and chronic sciatica, and come out of the procedure with an area of pain and neuropathy in his leg, which the surgeon initially told him might resolve, but might take up to six months to fully resolve, but also might persist. Now, passing that six-month mark, with no improvement in his symptoms, he was frustrated and a little angry, and needed to vent. He told me that having these new symptoms was worse than the pain in his back that had sent him to seek surgery in the first place, and he wished he never had the procedure done. I asked him if the surgeon had told him this was a possible complication of the procedure, and he told me, no way, I never would’ve done this if you told me there was a chance that my leg would be painful after the surgery, no way would I have signed up for the surgery and gone ahead with it. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Fin...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs