Thread by @WesElyMD

1/🧵 Do you think this is WRONG⁉️
 
Would you be upset if you found out that a medical student had done a FULL PELVIC EXAM (or PROSTATE EXAM) under general anesthesia without explicitly telling you beforehand or even afterward?

Is this a violation of your privacy?

Read on…

2/ Would you consider it A FORM OF ASSAULT if you found out that a medical student had done a FULL PELVICE EXAM (or PROSTATE EXAM) under general anesthesia without explicitly telling you beforehand or even afterward?

3/ Apparently, some medical schools are still doing this as a way to teach budding doctors how to examine the human body. Many types of injustice in medicine have occurred over the years, and this represents one of them.
 
bit.ly/3Gx4XZv

4/ There are many people who might consent to allow such an exam, but rather than signing a “general consent,” they should be explicitly asked for permission and not wake up to find out later (or not at all)!
 
bit.ly/3opQoAL

5/ A recent survey of 101 medical students from seven American medical schools found that 92% had performed a pelvic exam on anesthetized female patients, 61% of whom reported not having explicit consent from the patients.

6/ “In 2007, Ashley Weitz, a 37-year-old mother in Utah, went to the emergency room seeking treatment for nausea and vomiting. After medications, she woke up horrified to discover that her feet were in stirrups, and the doctor was performing a vaginal exam.”

7/ "This abusive practice violates a patient's right to their own bodily autonomy, and these exams are often done for the benefit of the student, not the patient" said Weitz, who now advocates for legislation prohibiting nonconsensual exams.

bit.ly/3gvdWji

8/ Weitz's direct testimony helped pass a law restricting nonconsensual exams in Utah in 2018. Similar laws have also recently been passed in New York, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Washington & Florida.

9/fin
In a non-life threatening situation, we must always ask whether or not a person would want any procedure.

This is about human #respect & #dignity.

Unless we know the answer from the person’s own mouth or her/his decision maker, we should not proceed.

Period.
Thoughts?