The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services recently released new guidance regarding requirements for informed consent from patients when medical professionals perform sensitive and intimate examinations.
This guidance was issued because of concerns raised that as part of medical students’ courses of study and training, patients have been subjected to examinations—including pelvic, breast, prostate, and rectal examinations—while under anesthesia without medical staff first receiving proper informed consent prior to the examination.
While it is critically important that medical students receive proper training, patients should have the right to give full consent for all medical services including any training- and education-related examinations, particularly if they will be under anesthesia.
[button: Read the Guidance]