Medical Ethics

Author(s):  
C.Christopher Hook ◽  
Paul S. Mueller

Medicine is first and foremost a relationship. It is the coming together of one individual, the patient, who is ill or has specific needs and a second individual, the physician, whose goal is to help the patient and who possesses a unique set of knowledge and skills to pursue that goal. Because medicine is fundamentally a relationship, it is at heart an ethical endeavor. Indeed, the physician-patient relationship is a fiduciary relationship; physicians have knowledge, skills, and powers that patients do not have. In turn, patients-who are often sick and vulnerable-must trust that physicians act in their patients' best interests. As a result, physicians have a long and rich history of creating oaths and codes that provide ethical norms and frameworks to support and protect physician-patient relationships. Medical ethics consists of a set of principles and systematic methods that attempt to guide physicians on how they ought to act in their relationships with patients and others and how to resolve moral problems that arise in the care of patients.

Author(s):  
Keith M. Swetz ◽  
C. Christopher Hook

Medicine is first and foremost a relationship—a coming together of a patient, who is ill or has specific needs, and a physician, whose goal is to help the patient. The physician-patient relationship is a fiduciary relationship; physicians have knowledge, skills, and privileges that patients do not have. In turn, patients trust that physicians act in their patients’ best interests. Medical ethics consists of a set of principles and systematic methods that guide physicians on how they ought to act in their relationships with patients and others and how to resolve moral problems that arise in the care of patients.


Author(s):  
Jordan Mason

Abstract Recent literature on the ethics of medical error disclosure acknowledges the feelings of injustice, confusion, and grief patients and their families experience as a result of medical error. Substantially less literature acknowledges the emotional and relational discomfort of the physicians responsible or suggests a meaningful way forward. To address these concerns more fully, I propose a model of medical error disclosure that mirrors the theological and sacramental technique of confession. I use Aquinas’ description of moral acts to show that all medical errors are evil, and some accidental medical errors constitute venial sins; all sin and evil should be confessed. As Aquinas urges confession for sins, here I argue that confession is necessary to restore physicians to the community and to provide a sense of absolution. Even mistakes for which physicians are not morally culpable ought to be confessed in order to heal the physician–patient relationship and to address feelings of professional distress. This paper utilizes an Episcopal theology of confession that affirms verbal admission and responsibility-taking as freeing and relationally restoring acts, arguing that a confessional stance toward medical error both leads to better outcomes in physician–patient relationships and is more compassionate toward physicians who err.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 57-58
Author(s):  
George Cristian Curca ◽  
◽  
Iuliana Diac ◽  
Iuliana Dobrescu ◽  
Lucia-Emanuela Andrei ◽  
...  

"Introduction. Child custody judicial course usually are intense conflictual raising a lot of pressure both on adult parents as on children. Always require a forensic psychiatry set-up at the court request and a professional team, legal doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists of adult and children from the legal medicine institution and from the hospital. Children are carefully looked upon separately by psychologists in a special setu-up diregarding intruding and manipulation. Objective of this presentation is to identify ethical aspects of the relationship physician-patient (the adult parent and separate the child) and psychologist-patient (i.e. similar) in custody litigation. Material and methods. We have casuistry with a high diversity of parental alienation in child custody cases. Discussions: Does physicians (psychiatrist or legal doctor) and psychologists uses different ethical models and concepts to approache the adult parent or the child? Forensic psichiatry examinations are completed with psychiatry examination and psychology examination as much as documents examinations which are presented in the dossier. Social inquiry is very important. Conclusions: similar to physician-patient relationship in pediatry, psychologist-minor patient relationship is based on the same moral values and ethical principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, loialty, trust, mostly in a paternalistic model to sustain always the best interest of the child/children. Lack of autonomy of the minor child creates correlativity obligations to protect his rights and to sustain the best interests of the child as a primary consideration. Beneficence in forensic psychiatry may take into consideration maintaining also beneficial emotional relationships with both parents after the separation. "


Author(s):  
Jue WANG

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.本文首先廓清了“醫乃仁術”在傳統儒家思想脈絡裏的含義,並指出從來源上說,它迥異於西方生命倫理學主流,而採取了一種獨特的“不離人倫,親親為本”的視角。然而這種視角使得“醫乃仁術”總是被一種歧義所困擾:它既是一種行善原則,也是一種未顧及自主性原則的行善原則,家長主義的陰影無處不在。“醫乃仁術”的歧義成為中國生命倫理學建設的最大瓶頸。面對這種困境,本文試圖在現代西方生命倫理學話語實踐之外,另闢蹊徑,借助關懷倫理學和美德倫理學的最近研究成果,闡發“醫乃仁術”的合理內涵。This essay addresses the ethical implications of the physician-patient relationship from the Confucian perspective, which holds that the physician must regard the patient as a family member to treat the patient properly. It is well known that there are two primary approaches to moral authority in contemporary Western medical ethics. One is internal, and assumes that the good inherent to medicine is the source of moral authority in medical activities. The other is external, and denies that the ends and ethics of medicine can be determined by typical medical activities. It holds that medical ethics should be based on general moral principles, such as autonomy and justice. However, the Confucian model seems to be at odds with both of these approaches. On the one hand, Confucians do not think that medicine constitutes a self-contained domain of activity with its own ethics; rather, medicine is seen as a continuum of familial relationships and ethics. On the other hand, Confucians also hold that the physician-patient relationship should follow the example of the flexible relationships among family members rather than the rigid general principles of autonomy and justice.The Western model is aimed at action, whereas the Confucian view focuses on personal affective relations. The greatest problem with the Confucian model is its notorious paternalism; that is, it appears to fail to pay sufficient attention to the potential conflict between patient and physician about the good, ignoring the issue of patient autonomy. In the modern Western tradition, the model of the physician-patient relationship is based on two self-sufficient agents (patient and physician) who are united in pursuing a certain good, where each is the final source of what is good for him- or herself. However, the real physician-patient encounter demands a deeper commitment between the two than this model suggests. When entering a physician-patient relationship, what the patient seeks is care from the physician, not autonomy. That is to say, the patient first of all trusts the physician. To earn that trust, it is not enough that the physician treat the patient based only on the principle of autonomy or what the patient requires. Rather, a deep attachment – analogous to a familial relationship – must be developed that can serve as the basis of the encounter between the patient and physician. The Confucian physician-patient model, which is rooted in such a relationship, does not contrast but rather complements its Western counterpart.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 564 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-02
Author(s):  
Gopa Chowdhury

Obstetrics is a high-risk specialty with the challenge of wellbeing of mother and baby. Medical ethics, a disciplined study of morality concern obligations of physicians and health organizations to patients as well as the obligations of the patients, is an integral part of medical practice which builds and sustains physician patient relationship and involves a systemic approach to decision making and actions while being secular. Primary strands of thoughts: Utilitarian, considers most positive outcome and Deontological, judges if action right or wrong, consequences of actions not considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 204-217
Author(s):  
Mustafa SAMANCI

Balint groups were put forward by Michael Balint, who studied the physician-patient relationship with its deep dimensions in the 1950s. The Balint group method consists of case presentations and general discussions that emphasize the emotional content of physician-patient relationships following the case presentation. One of the aims of establishing Balint groups is to help health professionals and medical students develop empathy skills to reduce communication difficulties between people. Today, worldwide widely used in a manner Approaches of Balint Group, was not given sufficient importance in Turkey. Today, although many scientific studies have been published about Balint groups, there is not any work published in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to discuss the results of some studies about the Balint Group Method and to explain the definition, content, and application of this method in family medicine. It is known that the Balint Group Method contributes greatly to the increase of physicians' empathy levels and to decrease their burnout levels. Nowadays, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have quite tiring and difficult days and their burnout levels are increasing considerably. According to the results of the study, the application of the Balint Group Method by physicians in Covid-19 and the following period will contribute to better physician-patient relations as well as reduce the burnout levels of physicians. In Turkey, the introduction of the Balint Group Method, implementation, and inclusion in educational curricula are recommended. Also, it is recommended that physicians who have experienced the Balint Group Method contribute to the increase of the physician-patient relationship by making these experiences into scientific publications, sharing the results with the literature. As a result of the literature review, the implementation of this method in the virtual environment during the pandemic period and its spread throughout the world will make the application of this method even easier.


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