Ethical Case Studies in Uroradiology

Abstract

Today, radiologists are more than ever in need of current knowledge and skills to make use of moderm technologies. Radiologists need to be considerate of patients values and wishes in addition to observing technical guidelines. Such conduct is a sign of respect for patient autonomy and is the basis for informed consent before every medical procedure. Doctors are obligated to inform their patients at a level that they can understand about the procedures, its expected outcomes and its potential harms and benefits of. In the field of uroradiology especially when some sort of interventions are going to be done, disregarding informed consent as a simple but important step can impair the relationship between patient and radiologist. For example, in the cases of ultrasound guided needle biopsy of prostate, misinforming the patient on some important adverse effect of the procedure including infection, pain and injury of adjacent organs may result in serious legal action. Radiologist negligence for taking consent from patient for prostate needle biopsy is a case that will be discussed in this lecture.