Ethical Issues in Osteopathic Physicians’ Activities. Information for Patients

Abstract

An anonymous sociologic inquiry of 292 osteopathic physicians from 7 Russian cities and of a similar group of chiropractic physicians (control group) was held. 415 patients who received osteopathic medical care in St. Petersburg were interviewed. The specific character of osteopathic medicine requires doctor’s particular attention to the compliance with ethical standards. However, not all osteopathic physicians exactly follow the principles of medical ethics: only 69 % provide the patient the complete information about his/her disease. Half of patients said that doctors did not ask directly their permission to treat them. In general osteopathic physicians respect ethical standards more than chiropractic physicians. It seems useful for osteopathic and chiropractic physicians to undergo an extra training on medical ethics.