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prolene
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Legal or ethical issues involved about giving medical advise
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07.09.07 (1 year ago)
#1
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Hello i am a member of a few international non-medical forums on internet, as all of us are!!! But sometimes there are questions or discussions regarding medical diseases, where i try to give give medical opinion, but there are few clauses in medical ethics:
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A PHYSICIAN SHALL: recognize his/her important role in educating the public but should use due caution in divulging discoveries or new techniques or treatment through non-professional channels.
A PHYSICIAN SHALL: certify only that which he/she has personally verified.
A PHYSICIAN SHALL: respect a patient's right to confidentiality. It is ethical to disclose confidential information when the patient consents to it or when there is a real and imminent threat of harm to the patient or to others and this threat can be only removed by a breach of confidentiality. |
Can somebody comment on these things.
IMO: The first one would be covered by sticking to the standard treatments.
The second one, very tricky as the poster may be just making it up!
And the third, the poster is posting it in a forum, and he/she themselves disclose the information.
What do you think about this?
Reference: World Medical Association International Code of Medical Ethics
Edited by: RxPG Team
Edit Reason: Posting links to any website (other than those in RxPG network) is a deemed violation of RxPG TOS. This restriction applies partially to .org websites
If your link is relevant to medical community and you want to share, you can use the appropriate place on RxPG site (the link directory) at
Correction: Reference: World Medical Association. Sorry for the violation
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BGM
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07.10.07 (1 year ago)
#2
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The above said issue arises when the physician treats the patient through an internet forum resulting in a Doctor-Patient relationship.
With regard to RxPG Public forum,
There is a message displayed at its mainpage itself.
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| This forum is for members of public who want to ask a question from RxPG Members about their health related queries. Please note that the advice given here is voluntary, discretionary and does not replace your physicians advice. In any case, you can not hold RxPG or its users liable for any advice obtained here. The purpose of this forum is to help you in finding more information and guiding you regarding your queries and not to treat you. |
So the whole issue is not applicable to RxPG public forum.
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BGM
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Re: Legal or ethical issues involved about giving medical ad
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07.10.07 (1 year ago)
#3
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| prolene wrote: |
| A PHYSICIAN SHALL: recognize his/her important role in educating the public but should use due caution in divulging discoveries or new techniques or treatment through non-professional channels. |
Yes thats correct, a physician must always use caution while educating public. If we exercise caution while educating its ethical.
| Prolene wrote: |
| A PHYSICIAN SHALL: certify only that which he/she has personally verified. |
"Certify" means "to attest authoritatively" An example is giving a prescription with a written diagnosis of a particular disease, or telling a person that he/she is having a specific disease. If we comment that he/she
can have disease "A" but the possibility of disease "B" or "C" cannot be ruled out & if we guide him/her to a local physician its ethical.
| Prolene wrote: |
| A PHYSICIAN SHALL: respect a patient's right to confidentiality. It is ethical to disclose confidential information when the patient consents to it or when there is a real and imminent threat of harm to the patient or to others and this threat can be only removed by a breach of confidentiality. |
Confidential information means information leading to the disclosure of the identity of the individual. First of all this clause arises only in a doctor patient relationship. If there is no doctor patient relationship the whole issue will not arise. The doctor patient relationship arises only when a physician treats a patient. If only advise is given( eg: go and see an orthopedician) it cannot be considered as a doctor patient relationship.
("Doctor Patient relationship" has been defined very clearly in the Consumer Protection Act 1986, India - * Contract FOR personal services(doctor charges the patient for treatment) * Contract OF personal services(doctor offers free treatment) )
And if its is the patient who posts his/her name/address in the forum, the doctor cant be held liable for an unethical practice. It becomes unethical when a physician posts "My patient "A" 25yrs coming from "B" district had influenza" openly in the forums.
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blue_mars
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07.10.07 (1 year ago)
#4
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moving this thread to OffBeat
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prolene
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Re: Legal or ethical issues involved about giving medical ad
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07.10.07 (12 months ago)
#5
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| BGM wrote: |
| If we exercise caution while educating its ethical. |
Ok from this statement and from your other statements, i guess i should remind the participants of a discussion from time to time explicitly and non-explicitly that my advise is not an alternative to a proper Medical advise from a Physician.
Please correct me if i am wrong. Thanks
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BGM
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Re: Legal or ethical issues involved about giving medical ad
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07.10.07 (12 months ago)
#6
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| prolene wrote: |
| BGM wrote: |
| If we exercise caution while educating its ethical. |
Ok from this statement and fron your other statements, i guess i should remind the participants of a discussion from time to time explicitly and non-explicitly that my advise is not an alternative to a proper Medical advise from a Physician.
Please correct me if i am wrong. Thanks |
Yes, you are correct. Even though i am a registered medical practitioner, i must always tell the patient to see a doctor in person & get a detailed examination, if the patient is asking for medical help by describing his symptoms through an internet forum. Thus i am exercising "caution" while advising the patient.
But if he is asking me a doubt on an investigation (eg:What is ELISA?)
or general query (eg:How can i get AIDS) I can always explain to the patient without telling him to see a doc in person. Here also i am exercising "Caution" by providing him the accurate details from standard text books.
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BGM
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07.17.07 (11 months ago)
#7
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Posting this here, bcoz these must be known to every doctor in India.
Indian Medical Council (Professional conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
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| http://mohfw.nic.in/code.htm |
1. Code of Medical Ethics
2. Duties of physicians to their patients
3. Duties of physician in consultation
4. Responsibilities of physicians to each other
5. Duties of physician to the public & to the paramedical profession
6. Unethical Acts
7. Misconduct
8. Punishment & Disciplinary action
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rajju077
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03.25.08 (3 months ago)
#8
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I always thought it would be difficult to put a diagnosis on a patient without a visual and general examination, not to mention case history and lab records.
This place isnt for treatment, its for information. It is not only unethical, but disastrous if anyone gave medicines without actually doing a general examination of the patient! Sometimes a symptom maybe confused with another, or the patient's complaints may not be synonymous with his condition. Plus loads of patients lie and hide vital information.
Sometimes medical jargon, or too much medical info on public boards can mislead public into believing that they can use that info in their day to day life. Have seen it happen a hundred times. Like using an antibiotic everytime you cough, even if the cause is viral.
Most of the times, general public dont suffer cause they were given a wrong drug , but because they overdosed on it or took it wrongly.
And yes, this is a public forum, and so are others, so the privacy is shot.
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