Respect For Patient’s Autonomy And Traditional Incursion Into Orthodox Care

Citation:
Fatusi, O, Ogunbodede E.  2013.  Respect For Patient’s Autonomy And Traditional Incursion Into Orthodox Care, 2013/03/22.

Abstract:

Objective: To explore the ethical obligations of the surgeon to a patient who decided to seek cure from traditional healers in a country that recognises the two forms of care.Method: Case scenario and literature support of the ethical issues involved. Mr YK, 19-year-old secondary School student, who presented in the Maxillofacial surgery outpatient clinic with a 6 week history of jaw swelling. Despite the swelling, he was in good health. He neither smoked nor took alcohol. Examination revealed a firm to bony hard swelling in the right mandible and radiology revealed a radiolucent lesion. Incisional biopsy revealed malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The parents who would be financially responsible for the treatment were invited for a discussion but the mother was at the stage of “denial” and insisted that nobody had ever had ‘cancer’ in their family so her son could not have ‘cancer’. Their request for time to think it over was granted and the danger of delayed treatment was emphasized.
Result: The patient and parents were lost to follow-up for over two months and by the time they showed up in the clinic, the case was inoperable. We decided on the option of pre-operative chemotherapy to shrink the lesion but the patient deteriorated very fast and passed on. It was not surprising that the period of “temporary disappearance” was spent at a trado-medical hospital (herbalist). The ethical implications are discussed.
Conclusion: There is an urgent need to regulate traditional practice and encourage referral of serious cases by its practitioners.

Notes:

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