hehehehe.......Dr Chris Uzoh, a Nigerian-born medical doctor
was recently suspended by General medical Council (GMC), UK for
soliciting a romantic relationship with a female patient. According to
Mail Online, Dr Chris attended to the patient in the clinic and followed
up thirty minutes via text messages such as:
‘Sorry for this text message but I saw you and liked you and thought
we could go on a date in the future. ‘I am single and looking for a
serious relationship and not intending to mess about.’ ‘I’ve been
feeling like a schoolboy meeting a girl he fancied for the first time. I
haven’t felt this way in a while.’
Later
the woman received a card and flowers at her home along with a further
message from Dr Uzoh adding: ‘I wonder how else I would have met you if
not this way. ‘My heart is pure, I care, I hope it would be possible to
make you mine some day.‘
His attempts to ‘woo’ the patient were not just rebuffed but led to the suspension of his license to practice.
This news brought to light an increasingly complex and controversial
issue of how doctors should relate with their patients within and
outside the hospital.
The Question Now Is; Is it Okay for doctors to date patients?
Some argue that since the doctor exerts more power in the relationship
with patients, the risk of abusing such privilege is high if they
pursue a romantic, emotional relationship. Doctors see patients when
they are vulnerable emotionally. Some lack the capacity to distinguish
between what is proper and improper at such times. Therefore, many
doctors believe that protecting the patient’s interest is paramount.
Additionally, a doctor could use information obtained from patients to
blackmail them emotionally. For instance, one doctor immediately
contacted and solicited sex from a married woman whose husband had just
told him his marriage was in crisis. In another case, a woman left her
husband for her obstetrician.
Others feel
that doctors are humans who also have the right to fall in love and go
out with whomever they chose. They feel that setting limits on their
freedom to choose is completely unfair and discriminatory, after all,
lawyer and other professionals do not have those limits.
The answer is not so clear. Here’s why. Several years back, having a
relationship with a patient beyond the clinical setting was considered a
clear violation of medical ethics. A taboo.
However,
things have changed overtime. A survey conducted in the US showed that
70% of doctors regard romantic relationships with patients totally
unethical and forbidden. This is down from 83% that felt the same way in
2010. In fact 2% of doctors felt l is completely acceptable.
Furthermore, in another recent survey conducted in UK, up to 25% of
patients admitted to having had a sexual relationship with their
therapist in the past. Of course, very few doctors would readily admit
to these because of stigma and sanctions form regulatory bodies.
What is the position of regulatory bodies?
Let’s consider three countries… UK, US and Nigeria.
In 2013, the General Medical Council, UK relaxed its guidelines
slightly by giving room for relationships between doctors and former
patients provided the doctor give careful considerations to how it may
potentially affect his professional judgment.
According to GMC, UK,
Although it would not be possible to specify a length of time after
which it is acceptable to pursue a relationship with a former patient,
it is reasonable to expect that the more recently a professional
relationship ended the less likely it is to be appropriate to begin a
personal relationship with the patient.
In
Dr Chris’s case, the panel chairman Mrs Jayne Wheat said: ‘It is
important that patients have trust in their doctors and in the
confidential nature of their medical records, and it is seriously
improper for a doctor to seek to pursue a relationship of this kind with
a patient, the more so when he persists in it beyond the point when the
patient has made clear that his approaches are unwelcome.
In the US, the American Medical Association Council states that:
Such interactions detract from the goals of the patient-physician
relationship and may exploit the vulnerability of the patient,
compromise the physician’s ability to make objective judgment about the
patient’s health care, and ultimately be detrimental to the patient’s
well-being. At a minimum, a physician must terminate the
patient-physician relationship before initiating a dating, romantic, or
sexual relationship with a patient.
So,
technically if a doctor falls in love with his patients, he should
immediately allow another doctor take over the care of the patient
before he begins to pursue a romantic relationship. Even at that, if the
patient decides to report to regulatory authorities the doctor may lose
his medical license.
In Nigeria, the code of medical ethics states:
Any registered practitioner, who abuses his professional position, for
example by committing adultery or indulging in any improper conduct or
maintaining an improper association with a patent is liable to have his
name erased from the Register.
Does becoming
‘friends’ with one’s patient on Facebook be considered improper? Some
experts seem to think so. If anything goes wrong, the doctor may lose
his license.
Interestingly, there are
instances when it is the patient that initiates and actively pursues
romance with doctors. Some may also set up dates with family members and
friends. Nevertheless, the doctor should note that he or she would be
held responsible if anything goes wrong.
Why
can doctors easily lose their license when things go wrong? Because, to
whom much is given, much is expected. It is well-known that the doctor
has enormous powers within the hospital. Who else can ask you to take
off your clothes with little or no resistance from you? Who has access
to some of your innermost secrets, fears and wishes?
Clearly, regulatory bodies endeavor to ensure that the patient is
given first consideration within and outside hospital settings.
Source: HealthX2
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