Physicians’ Perspectives of Informed Consent for Medical Procedures: A Qualitative Interview Study

This work is based on an on-going research on medical informed consent in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with 19 doctors from hospitals, health care centers and private medical establishments in the National Capital District and Central Province who voluntarily participated in the study. The authors conducted an examination of doctors’ understanding of informed consent for medical procedures through a qualitative interview study and we describe our findings. We saw a need to involved patients in decision-making about their care, ethical imperative and concerns about litigation and their complaints highlighted the issue of informed consent. In order for the patients to make an informed decision about medical procedure, the doctors involved in the proposed treatment should conduct the informed consent discussion. The discussion should include the treatment, the risks and benefits of treatment, and alternative therapies with associated risks and benefits. We studied doctors’ perspectives of gaining informed consent for routine medical procedures. We used qualitative study methods using structured interviews selected by purposive sampling. The data collected were entered into a data base and were analyzed thematically. The discussion is based on review of legal decisions, commentaries and our personal experience in studying medical malpractice cases. We have utilized case reports and several informative writings that have appeared in the world literature, as well as selections from vast amounts of material available in USA, UK, Australia, India and PNG. The current informed consent processes do not appear to be ideal for many doctors in PNG. In particular, there are inhibiting factors that affect patients from making medical informed decisions, doctors find time not enough to run discussions on informed consent, Department of Health does not have a standard informed consent form, patients complain about no consent form, and they have not signed consent forms. These are but some issues that affect patients when trying to make informed decisions. We say that informed consent process flows from the relationship between doctor and patient, however when this does not occur, serious legal and ethical consequences may result. This report is not intended to be specific advice on any private legal matter.