title: Information, consent and treatment of patients with Morgellons disease: an ethical perspective.
abstract: Morgellons is a medically contested diagnosis with foremost dermatological symptoms. Patients experience fibers emerging from the skin, together with a range of other somatic, psychiatric, and neurological complaints. Within the medical community, it is generally held to be a variation of delusional parasitosis/delusional infestation, which is usually treated with antipsychotics. Little attention has been paid in the literature to the ethical aspects of treating patients with Morgellons disease. The communicative strategies suggested in the literature display significant ethical issues, primarily the use of therapeutic privilege, i.e. withholding information from the patient. Since this limits patient autonomy, that approach is ethically problematic. Instead, the physician has an ethical obligation to respect the patient's autonomy, provide full information, and seek consent before initiating a psychiatric referral.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geschichte, Theorie und Ethik der Medizin, Medizinische Fakultät der RWTH Aachen, Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Wendlingweg 2, 52074, Aachen, Germany, ysoederfeldt@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Ylva
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Söderfeldt
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Groß
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003142:Communication; D030881:Disclosure; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D055535:Morgellons Disease / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D012017:Referral and Consultation
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents