Critical Care Without Consent

[IowaEMT]

A friend of mine pointed this article out to me. The short version of the article is that they're going to be giving patients experimental treatments without their consent. Where do you stand on this issue? I searched back a ways and didn't see this posted anywhere, so I apoligize in advance if this is a repeat post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2600982_pf.html

[Ridryder 911]

Kinda hard to get "informed" consent when patients are critically ill. Without such research, emergency medicine would never progress.

R/r 911

[spenac]

This is why if you have allergys or medical procedures you don't want done you need dog tags and paperwork with you stating this. Otherwise if you can't speak your fair game for whatever treatment, including experimental.

[BEorP]

I guess if you don't like being resuscitated, it would have sucked to have gotten up front CPR before the release of the official guidelines in December 2005.

[paramedicmike]

Kinda hard to get "informed" consent when patients are critically ill. Without such research, emergency medicine would never progress.

R/r 911

Critically ill or clinically dead. Can't get consent from a body. So why not? If it winds up bringing the patient back, or winds up helping save people in the future, is it really that bad?

Besides, this isn't a study based on whimsical information. There is a small body of evidence to support larger actions. So why not institute larger action?

I agree with Rid. Without such research there would be no advance in medicine. The steps that are taken prior to the start of such studies that help get the message out. While not perfect, they are about as effective as you could hope. Following these steps, and those laid out by the IRBs and ethicists, there shouldn't be any problem.

Lastly, you'll notice the arguments presented by those against these type studies basically boils down to "Because I don't like it". Where's the argument in that?

-be safe