Re: Informed Consent

[Quang Le <quangle@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Dr. Gibbs wrote:

<<I must confess confusion re the multiple concerns expressed 
as to why patients may not be adequately informed about 
radiation risks from diagnostic procedures involving x rays 
or radioisotopes. Especially when this comes from a group 
who have just harangued re absence of proven risk from 
small radiation doses (the LNT controversy). It seems 
that many of us are "talking from both sides of our 
mouths."
I think that most readers of this list will agree 
that risk to patients from typical diagnostic 
radiologic procedures are vanishingly small. The most 
common diagnostic x-ray procedures are chest and dental; 
effective doses from these are of the order of 1 mrad. 
Other procedures (these are CT, barium enema, etc.), done 
much less commonly and only after consideration of benefit, 
may give effective doses up to 1 rad--rarely more.>>

I don't think any of us is "talking from both sides of our mouths".
Understanding something is one thing, expecting others to understand the same
thing is another. I think we can all agree that many, if not most,
patients/members of the public do not understand radiation. Brushing aside
their concerns or assuming they do not need to know seems to be bad medicine.
It seems clear, at this point in the thread, that none of us is advocating
full-blown radiation safety sessions with the patients. What I understand from
many of the posts, and I agree, is that if "risk" (for lack of a better word)
communication is practiced more (I am guessing it can be improved from what I
read) public's fear of radiation may be abated. Bob Flood and others have hit
the target, I think, when they talk about increasing the number of people who
are made aware of beneficial uses of radiation and how most of these radiation
exposures produce no harmful effects.
Please note that this is not meant to target the medical community alone. I
think that we, HPs, are guilty of poor public communication as well. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 
Quang Le 
SLAC/OHP 
(650) 926-2610 
<quangle@slac.stanford.edu> 
Note: The above is my own opinion only!  
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