Informed Consent and Libraries of Everything!

Here's a couple of interesting articles I want to bring to your attention. The first is by Matt Bivens, M.D. It's called 'The Dishonesty of Our 'Informed Consent' Rituals' and features a couple of experiences he's had recently. A patient comes into ED with a dislocated shoulder. It's painful. He's been given pain drugs already, but all he can do is ask for more. Because it's so painful. The doctor treats the shoulder, but has to ask the patient for formal consent. The patient just wants to have less pain, to be fixed! He gives his consent, stop asking him for it! But the Doc can't, because he MUST ask for this kind of consent.

From here at cagle.com

The heat wave continues here in the Pacific Northwest. Hovering around 100 for the last ten days, it has caused the suspected death of many older citizens, two just yesterday. A man in his 50s found dead in his apartment, which had no AC, and a 55 year old woman was found dead as a result of extreme heat.