Do doctors in Saudi Arabia have a code of medical ethics?

Abdulaziz Al-Thukair HEALTHCARE professionals in our country do not dedicate enough time to examining patients. In the past, doctors used to take time to sit and talk with their patients. Today, most doctors do not even have time to ask patients about their food habits and the medications they take or have taken before. A friend told me that most doctors working in the private sector are required to see a minimum number of patients every day and if they do not abide by this quota, their employment contracts might not be renewed. This means doctors have to spend less time with patients so that they are able to meet this requirement. I read an article in Men’s Health Magazine about this issue. The writer described a good doctor as one who gives a patient the available options together with the side effects of each option and explains to the patient why he thinks a certain option is the best. In the writer’s opinion, a successful doctor is one who embodies a team spirit and has an ability to communicate well with patients and colleagues. Unfortunately, some doctors in our country do not have time to go through the medical records of patients and ask questions about their medical condition. Even some doctors who have translators fail to understand the medical problems of patients because they do not have time to examine medical records. From now on, when you go and see a doctor and notice that he has not bothered to check your medical record, you need to be suspicious of the doctor, his diagnosis and what he prescribes. What happened to the code of medical ethics that was drafted by Thomas Percival (1740-1804) in the year 1794? The code was approved by the American Medical Association (AMA) as the first code of its kind. All physicians must follow this code. In the updated version of the code, two of the sections emphasize the responsibility of doctors toward patients. I have no idea how many doctors in the Kingdom follow this code.