Autism spectrum disorder - Research Paper Example

?Informed consent process for diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering autism spectrum disorders Introduction Autism spectrumdisorder refers to a range of medical complications relating to the patients abilities to interact with others. Additionally, the condition affects the patient’s ability to communicate effectively, result in repetitive behaviors, and result in cognitive delays. Patients suffering from ABS portray myriad of characteristic most of which are similar to those exhibited by mentally ill patients. The condition is a great manifestation of the brain’s inability to develop effectively thereby quantifying the condition as mental. The condition thus affects the development of patients a feature that complicates both its determination in a patient and the successive treatment (Ravin 22). The condition becomes more prominent with age; it is more conspicuous in older patient than it is in younger. Children are under the direct responsibility of their parents; the parents thus monitor their growth and development closely and reserve the right and privilege of making any important decision about their health. The situation changes as they come of age and become adults. In adulthood, people make all the important decisions including those relating to their health on their own. However, the syndrome is more prevalent in old age, a time when people have little supervision yet the society begins depending on them. This makes the diagnosis and the treatment of the condition more complicated. Furthermore, the condition impairs the patient’s ability to communicate, remember and to socialize with others. At such, it becomes more complex for such to interact with doctors in the treatment process (MacConnell, 28). With such a revelation, informed consent to treat or to operate such patients becomes a critical issues since such patients are adults with the legal mandate to make decisions on their own yet the condition impairs the efficacy of their decisions thereby making informed consent not only an ethical but also a clinical matter. Informed consent refers to the patient’s approval of any clinical procedure that a doctor seeks to carry out on them. Patients have the right to any information concerning them while at a medical facility. However, the situation is different in case of patients suffering from autism spectrum disorders. These patients have numerous brain development issues and cannot communicate effectively; seeking such a consent from them thus becomes unethical. Despite their ages, such patients are literary children since they cannot make any valid decision. Additionally, they some of them may not even conceptualize the doctor’s explanation during the diagnosis thereby invalidating their consents for the clinical procedures (Ozonoff, Sally and Robert 11). Dynamics In case a problem results in the process of such clinical operations, most doctors will always transfer the blame to their patients owing to their approval. Such are unethical practices since the doctors understand the condition of their patients but still seek their permission and proceeding with some serious surgeries. Just as explained earlier, patients suffering from the condition do not communicate effusively and do not have effective cognitive abilities. This implies that their messages are inconsistent and does not communicate coherently (Sicile-Kira 21). Seeking the consent of such a person is retrogressive and has often resulted in blames. Additionally, most doctors resort to seeking the permission of their families a fact that further creates controversies. The condition manifests itself in adulthood, the age advancements worsens its condition. Seeking consent from the families to perform a surgical operation on an adult is more complicated, even worse when the circumstance dictates informed consent. The principles of informed consent dictate that the permission for the operation originates from the patient himself. Autism Spectrum Disorder patients are always unable to make such informed decisions on their own. Regardless of the complications that arise thereafter, most doctors prefer consulting the families of such patients. In case of married patients, the doctors consult their spouses who are the closest relations. However, the permission may extend to parents or even to extended families in case a situation presents and warrants such. Third party consents often result in blame games in case the situation of the patient aggravates or the operation turns fatal. This makes blame fixing an important aspect of the treatment process. Doctor’s will always require the consent to conduct a surgical operation; the consent is the doctor’s tool of acquitting himself of any blame in case the operation turns tragic. This implies that whichever case the operation turns a doctor is never blamed. A doctor becomes liable in case the plaintiff validates either negligence or intentional cause of harm during his practice. The grantor of the consent thus becomes liable for the subsequent responsibilities related to the surgical operation. This includes the either the spouse or the parent who appends the signature. In retrospect, consent is always paramount in approving a surgical operation; autism patients have special conditions mostly rectified through brain surgeries most of which turn fatal. To avoid unnecessary blame after such, it is paramount that the spouses provide their next of kin with their health service providers or insurers. This way, they become responsible of any form of misfortunes that results from the surgeries since their spouses would be having their permission to make such important decisions when they are immobile. Pharmacological quick fixes for autistic behaviors & comorbidities Comorbidity in clinical terms refers to the occurrence of a medical condition alongside other preexisting conditions. In such cases, a patient suffers from more than one medical condition. The nature of autism spectrum disorder enables the occurrence of many other medical conditions. Among the most commonly, prevalent conditions that occur alongside the ASD include epilepsy, tuberculosis sclerosis, and mental retardation among others. The other conditions may have similar characteristics or inhibit the portrayal of the features of the condition thereby making its diagnosis and treatment more difficult. Most of the diseases that commonly occur alongside autism exhibit similar features and impair the functionality of the brain. The diseases therefore does not only complicate the diagnosis of the autism but also complicated the process of seeking informed consent. Epileptic patients cannot always understand anything and rely on the guidance of their loved one possibly the families. The same is applicable in mentally ill patients, seeking an informed consent from such patients thus becomes complicated as since such patients do not have the ability to conceptualize and understand their conditions. They thus rely on their families to make the important decisions. It is a great unethical; practice to operate a patient without the consent of either the patient or his family. Yet, it is equally useless consulting a mental patient on the nature of treatment. Such patients may heal and decide to prosecute all those involved in their treatment for ignoring their rights. However, such human-interest cases often protect the lives involved and may uphold the decisions of the parents or spouses (Eaton 40). Available alternatives In retrospect, doctors do not perform blind surgeries. The codes of practice in the field do not permit them to carry out such unprofessional activities. Furthermore, the constitution accords every citizen the right to access information, this implies that even patients have the right to obtain as much information as they may require about their condition. Doctors should therefore explain the conditions of their patients should they ask thereby create a trustworthy environment capable for the treatment. In the process of upholding the principles, doctors maintain constant communication with the families of the patient in order to communicate any development of the patient to them. Moreover, the law permits any physically bodied individual to make any surgical decision. However, the doctors should quantify the sanity of a patient (Rodriguez 33). The major type of treatment for the condition is therapeutic. However, in some rare cases, the process becomes physical thereby involving such operations as surgeries and the administration of drugs. The patient has the right to know the drugs a doctor uses on him or her. The privilege extends to the category of patient with the ability to understand the nature of their condition thereby capable of understanding and permit the execution of any serious medical condition. In addressing such cases and the settlement of blames between medical practitioners and the patients of the autism condition, it becomes important that the government authenticate the involvement of the next of kin relationship in such treatment processes (Bax and Christopher 91). The next of kin are often either parents or spouses. Such category of people exhibit minimal harm to the treatment and healing of the patient, the government should therefore always uphold the decisions of such people thus preventing the recurrent of legal tussles in case of an unprecedented results such as either permanent disability or death. Importance of informed consent Informed consent in a treatment process refers to the acceptance of a medical procedure by a patient. The doctor or nurse should explain to the patient in detail the risks involved and the nature of the surgical operation thereby permitting the patient to either accept or decline the advice. This way, the medical practitioner becomes acquitted of any responsibility that results from the operations. The practice of medicine dictates that doctors acquit themselves with any blame, for this, the government implements the application of the informed consent a situation in which the procedure takes place only after the patient accepts the terms and condition of the surgery thereby minimizing risks (Wear 44). Patients of the autism condition are vulnerable; they do not have the mental maturity to make such important decisions. While informed consent avails the information about the condition to the patient, the patients may not have any se for such since the government permits any next of kin to accept the terms of a medical surgery in case the family member is incapacitated. Autism patients are as well as incapacitated patients since they cannon reasons or even remember simple occurrences in their lives. This way, the signatory of the acceptance forms become liable to any subsequent fatality or any other court case. Works cited Bax, Martin, and Christopher Gillberg. Comorbidities in Developmental Disorders. London: Mac Keith Press, 2010. Print. Eaton, William W. Medical and Psychiatric Comorbidity Over the Course of Life. Arlington: American Psychiatric Pub, 2005. Internet resource. MacConnell, Harry W. Psychiatric Comorbidity in Epilepsy: Basic Mechanisms, Diagnosis, and Treatment. Washington, DC [u.a.: American Psychiatric Press, 1998. Print. Ozonoff, Sally, Sally J. Rogers, and Robert L. Hendren. Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Research Review for Practitioners. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Pub, 2003. Internet resource. Ravin, Neil. Informed Consent. New York: Pinnacle, 1988. Print. Rodriguez, Ana M. Autism Spectrum Disorders. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2011. Print. Sicile-Kira, Chantal. Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Other Asds. New York: Berkeley Pub. Group, 2004. Print. Wear, Stephen. Informed Consent: Patient Autonomy and Clinician Beneficence Within Health Care. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press, 1998. Print. Read More