Reply #26: In Washington State, Dr's are under no legal obligation to tell u anything [View All]

[Heddi]

From lab test results to "you're gonna die". Absolutely no legal obligation at all.

I know this because I'm in nursing school (will be an RN in June), and I asked my teacher (an RN) about this. It was in the context of what to do if a patient asks me, the nurse, if they're going to die, what their test results mean, etc. I asked if a doctor was obligated to tell a patient that they were going to die, or had abnormal lab results that indicated a problem, and she said ABSOLUTELY NOT. There's no obligation there whatsoever. It's not considered malpractice whatsoever. If I, the nurse, know this, I can approach the Dr and (supposedly) express my concerns. I could also let my nurse manager know that I felt the patient's care was being hampered by the Dr refusing to tell a patient that they were dying, that they had an incurable disease, etc, but that there was no legislation in place making it mandatory.

I asked if there was some kind of form (like a living will or medical directive) that you could have your Dr sign stating that you want to know any adverse test results, diagnoses, etc, and she said no to that too.

Fucked up, ain't it?

Btw--I don't agree that it shouldn't be legal. I thikn it's clearly malpractice if you withhold medical information from patients. Not all afflictions are physical in nature. There are very real economic and psychological impacts that go along with this information. A patient should have the option to NOT be treated, or tested, or cured, or whatever, but the Dr should not be able to make that decision for a patient by withholding that information from the patient.

I do not understand why people get into occupations that they have such moral qualms about. If an OB-GYN cannot handle the fact that s/he may, one day, be required to face unpleasantries in their career, they should perhaps choose a career that has a potential of unpleasantries.

I hate math. That's why I'm not an accountant. It would be perfectly unacceptable for me to go to school, become a CPA, then work for a company and refuse to add numbers, or purposefully make mistakes then shrug and say "Well, you know, I like being a CNA but I have a REAL problem with the math part...."