Conflicts and Challenges of Truth-Telling in Dentistry: A Case-Based Ethical Analysis

Objectives: The basis of truth-telling is respecting the autonomy of patients and developing an ability to make informed decisions with valid consent. The purpose of this study was to ethically analyze the conflicts about truth-telling in dentistry. Materials and Methods: This case analysis focused on the issues of truth-telling in medicine and dentistry. The challenges encountered by dentists with respect to ethical issues related to truth-telling were discussed and analyzed by the research team. Results: The literature review showed that the issue of truth-telling in dentistry has been addressed from three aspects: Truth-telling about other dentists’ medical errors, truth-telling about dangerous, refractory, or incurable diseases, and truth-telling to children or incompetent individuals for decision-making. Conclusion: When the duty of the dentist in truth-telling is conflicted with some other moral obligations, the conflict between the prima facie duties arises. The principle-based ethical theories provide a suitable conceptual framework for moral judgement in such conflicts. In cases of conflicts related to truth-telling, a balance should be maintained between principles and rules such as fidelity, respect for autonomy, maintaining trust in dentist-patient relation, and best interest of patients. The decision in truth-telling should be made individually for each patient based on the specific contextual conditions.

Differences between sperm sharing and egg sharing are morally relevant

Sperm sharing arrangements involve a man (‘the sharer’) allowing his sperm to be used by people seeking donor sperm (‘the recipients’) in exchange for reduced price in vitro fertilisation. Clinics in the UK have offered egg sharing since the 1990s and the arrangement has been subjected to regulatory oversight and significant ethical analysis. By contrast, until now no published ethical or empirical research has analysed sperm sharing. Moreover the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) does not record the number of sperm sharing arrangements taking place.This paper describes the sperm sharing process providing an analysis of all the UK clinics advertising sperm sharing services. The ethical rationale for egg sharing is described: reducing the number of women exposed to the risks of stimulation and retrieval. This advantage is absent in sperm sharing where donation has no physical drawbacks. The key adverse social and emotional outcome of gamete sharing arises when the sharer’s own treatment is unsuccessful and the recipient’s is successful. This outcome is more likely in sperm sharing than in egg sharing given sperm from sharers can be used by up to 10 families whereas shared eggs only go to one other family.Given its morally relevant differences from egg sharing, sperm sharing requires its own ethical analysis. The HFEA should begin recording sperm sharing arrangements in order to enable meaningful ethical and policy scrutiny.

When complementary and alternative medicine intervenes in the conventional treatment of cancer patients: ethical analysis of a clinical case

The article's abstract is not available.

Issue of the boundaries between good and evil in theological-moral discourse

Hardly any problem in contemporary theological-moral discourse causes such turbulence as the searching, reflection, and demarcation of the boundaries between good and evil in human acting. A fundamental problem is a criterion or a reference point according to which a person could reliably determine what is good and evil. Divergent theological views in the theological-moral dimension seem to have caused the clear boundaries between good and evil to disappear. Therefore, the crucial question is whether there is still a universal criterion for theological evaluation of a human act, as the situation in theological-moral discourse resembles an areopagus of opinions that have no common point in distinguishing between good and evil. This reflection examines the possibility if the Thomistic ethical analysis of a human act, together with the principle of double effect, may be a reference point for the demarcation of these boundaries.

Values as Timeless Foundations of Today’s Economy – A Remedy for a Crisis in Economic Sciences

The presented paper refers to values as the timeless foundations of modern economics, and also to ethical limitations in the sphere of economic research, especially in the mainstream. The character of the paper is a review. The aim of the research is an attempt to show the fundamental importance of values, often rooted in history, for the development of modern economics and to present a remedy for the current analytical problems of economic sciences – considering the importance of axiology in economic research. The paper is divided into three main parts: introduction – theoretical considerations on the basis of the humanistic perspective of economics; first chapter – the place of values in philosophical and economic considerations, and second chapter – axiology as a complement to the gap in economic research (response to the crisis in the field of economic research). The authors proved that in the face of great crises, including the last one, which is the coronavirus crisis, there is an urgent need to extend economic analysis with values, which would make the science of economics more mature, perceiving an individual as an entity guided by a whole spectrum of principles. It is therefore necessary to go beyond the canon of rigid thinking, because otherwise we are threatened not only with the collapse of the economy, but the entire civilisation of the West. In this regard, let us provide a wider field for ethical analysis!