Patient consent and the surprise pelvic exam

I read this article in the Globe and Mail (one of Canada's two large national news papers) and was aghast. Medical students doing pelvic exams on unconscious women without consent?!

After contacting some friends who would know more than I do about this, I am feeling somewhat assured that Mr. Picard may have overstated the problem. Still, there is a problem.

This really shouldn't be happening at all. While some might argue that the consent implicit, I would certainly like to be explicitly informed if there is going to be a student prodding around in my parts. If it were explicitly stated, I would give consent - I suspect many women would.

There is one way to clear all of this up: just ask.

forced to keep mirena?

Why do some health care providers feel that they are entitled to force their patients to keep unwanted Mirena IUDs?

I recently came across a blog post from a NP where she vents her annoyance about removing a recently inserted Mirena from a patient who was concerned about the side effects. The majority of the comments she received are almost more disturbing than the original post itself.

Tales like this are repeated frequently across the web - women told that they must keep IUDs that are causing them discomfort. Adding to this concern is the reluctance of other health care providers to remove an IUD that they themselves didn't insert.

I can't for the life of me understand why a provider would be reluctant to remove an unwanted IUD. It is a simple and quick procedure. Do they not believe patient's reports of side effects?

Am I alone in thinking that this kind of behavior is offensive?