Written patient consent required for sensitive exams, HHS guidance says [View all]
Source: CNN Health
Published 12:58 PM EDT, Mon April 1, 2024
CNN — The US Department of Health and Human Services issued new guidance on Monday clarifying that hospitals must obtain written consent for sensitive exams, such as pelvic, breast or prostate exams – especially if patients will be under anesthesia during the exam.
Top officials from HHS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office for Civil Rights sent a letter on Monday advising teaching hospitals and medical schools of the new guidance and condemning the practice of performing sensitive exams on anesthetized patients without informed consent.
“The Department 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,” the letter says. “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 new guidance comes as public scrutiny of this traditional practice has grown. Studies from US medical schools show that it is common practice for students to perform sensitive examinations on anesthetized patients without informed consent. Patient advocates, doctors and medical students have expressed concerns about this practice and the level of consent obtained, the letter said.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/health/hospitals-written-patient-consent-pelvic-exams-hhs/index.html
Link to HHS PRESS RELEASE - Letter to the nation’s teaching hospitals and medical schools
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