Abstract

KIE: The death of a surgical patient, who had reluctantly agreed to participate in a trial of MST Continus, an oral slow-release morphine preparation, demonstrates the importance of informed consent and adequate communication among care givers. Explanation concerning the trial as well as consent were limited to an oral format. During recuperation from surgery, the patient was found comatose. No conspicuous label to indicate participation in the trial was affixed to her chart or bed. When the original physician in charge left the hospital, his successor did not inform the surgeon, gynecologists, or junior staff caring for the patient of the clinical trial. Thus, recognition that the patient's condition was caused by delayed absorption of the morphine came too late.