Preferential treatment based on a patient's social status or influence may compromise patient safety and equitable access to healthcare, according to an opinion paper published in Oncology Reviews. The authors, surgical oncology specialists, warn that pressure from influential patients, their families, or hospital management can lead to clinical decisions that depart from standard protocols. The paper describes two clinical cases. In the first, a 60-year-old woman with early-stage breast cancer underwent a PET-CT scan following pressure from relatives.

Increased uptake in chest lymph nodes prompted a further biopsy to investigate possible cancer spread. However, the biopsy showed reactive changes rather than metastatic disease. In the second case, a 58-year-old woman with advanced ovarian cancer underwent surgery without adequate preoperative preparation following pressure from hospital…