Purpose: One of the issues on health system’s agenda concerns actions required in response to complications discovered retrospectively in legitimate medical treatments. Technological developments, progress in genetic research and lawsuits upon required notifications all impose a need to consider a model for these scenarios. The research focuses on such a case: irradiation treatments received routinely in Israel until 1960 for Ringworm of the scalp, later discovered to increase the risk of tumors. A national survey was conducted among Israeli physicians upon levels of knowledge of the Ringworm affair and the Israeli law compensating victims. The study focuses on role of physicians in the Israeli health system as mediators transferring important messages from regulatory authorities to the public, based on stronger ethical commitment in the physician-patient relationship and court rulings.
Material & Methods: An Internet survey was distributed among 6,395 physicians in specialties who potentially may treat patients irradiated for ringworm, including 470 radiologists. Knowledge score was calculated for each respondent according to six key knowledge questions. Data was analyzed using SAS® 9.4 program.
Results: Findings were analyzed for 779 respondents who completed the questionnaire, 14.15% of Israeli registered physicians in relevant specialties, including 55 radiologists. Among radiologists, data indicates 65.5% failed to know about the ringworm case and the compensation program, highest rate in all specialties examined. Moreover, 78.2% were not aware of the national center established for compensating scalp ringworm irradiation victims. Respondents lack knowledge on dangerous levels of exposure to radiation (94.7%), including 87.3% of the radiologists. Examining physicians’ information sources on the ringworm case in Israel shows most physicians gather their knowledge from medical schools (36.8%), scientific papers (23.1%), and even their patients (22.9%), and much less from their employers and supervisors, meaning the Ministry of Health (15.2%) and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) (4.6%).
Conclusion: Most radiologists failed to know about the ringworm affair and the compensation program their patients could benefit from. Most radiologists are not aware of dangerous levels of radiation. The state and HMOs could contribute to expand knowledge by informing physicians in general and radiologists in particular, as significant agents in the medical field towards patients and the public.
