A 42-year-old woman is admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with a massive pulmonary embolism.

Oral contraceptives increase the risk of thromboembolic events, particularly in patients with risk factors such as smoking and obesity. However, informing the patient’s partner of potential contributing factors in a factual, non-judgmental manner is appropriate and does not imply fault.

Toronto Notes 2023 – ELOM, “Informed Consent and Risk Communication”:

“Patients and families should be informed of all relevant information, including potential drug-related adverse events. Blame must not be assigned without full investigation.”

MCCQE1 Objectives (ELOM > 90-2: Physician–Patient Communication):

“Candidates must be able to communicate adverse outcomes factually, while respecting confidentiality and without prematurely assigning fault.”

Discussing the case with the ethics committee or reporting the prescribing doctor without context is premature and inappropriate (A, D). Telling the partner the physician was at fault (C) is speculative and unethical.

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