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Category: Case Studies
July 01, 2001
wo close relatives suffered serious complications related to treatment while in the hospital, in a short span of a few months. The case reports are reproduced to initiate a dialogue amongst professionals as to what treating physicians' responsibilities should be when faced with serious iatrogenic...
January 01, 2001
We would like to provide follow up and comment on the case study regarding putting a patient on the ventilator against her wishes.The dilemma that the daughter and son-in-law, both physicians, had faced was the decision to place this patient on a ventilator despite her repeatedly expressed abhorr...
January 01, 2001
The ethical dilemma herein is resolvable on the basis of two non sequiturs : The avoidance of a ventilator does not always spell death. Insisting on it is no guarantee of survival. It is incidental that Mrs. SBG managed to recover - because of the ventilator, or, may be, DESPITE IT.
January 01, 2001
In the case of the 80-year-old lady with COPD, if clinical examination suggested that the lady was alert and capable of deciding about whether she would consent to use of mechanical ventilation, I would go by her decision, and discuss this with the daughter and son-in-law. However, a less traumat...
January 01, 2001
Providing the medical diagnosis and identifying the drugs in question would have enhanced the case study about the doctor, the patient and the relative without compromising patient confidentiality. Yet, the case study serves to illustrate how patient, "facilitator" and physician interactions can ...
October 01, 2000
The patient, an elderly woman, was persuaded by her family to visit a doctor for a general check-up for various complaints. She was accompanied by her close relative, who was slightly familiar with medical issues. At the patient's request, the relative also accompanied her to various tests. The d...
July 01, 2000
My own story could be dismissed with a "What's the big deal? It happens to everybody." I have yet to receive satisfactory answers to my questions. Why does it happen so frequently? Why is it not such a big deal? Why must so many people suffer avoidable distress?
April 01, 2000
Mrs SBG, a sprightly eighty year old, lived alone in south Bombay. She became short of breath over a two week period. She had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which was related with inhalers. Her blood gases showed severe hypoxia as well as hypercapnia. Though her sensorium was mildly lethar...
January 01, 2000
This case raises several issues. But before we discuss them the absurdity of the situation has to be faced. How do you keep a lay person, let alone a doctor, in the dark about treatment when he is being wheeled into the OR and then to the radiotherapy department for daily radiation treatments? It...