By Florence Ashley. A few days ago, I sent off an email to someone I know at my university’s student health clinic to inquire about their ability to prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to trans students. A friend of mine had recently contacted me for recommendations of providers, but I knew that most of the […]
Category: clinical ethics
Well That’s Something Worth Dissecting
By Natalie Cohen It was my first day of anatomy class. Dressed in hand-me-down scrubs covered by a blue smock that still smelled of its packaging, I opened the laboratory double doors and began my long walk towards table one, with each step I passed by lab tables with white plastic sheets covering what I […]
Prognostic paralysis: why do doctors shirk the difficult questions?
By Mohammad S Razai The morning she was told about the recurrence of her breast cancer, Mary1 remembers the framed pastiche of Monet’s Water Lilies hanging on the wall of the clinic, the pungent odour of disinfectant and the rustle of pages fanning as her oncologist turned them, deftly and effortlessly. With an acute sense of […]
Getting Un-Psyched About Ethics
By Nicholas Kontos My biggest insecurity about being a psychiatrist with an interest in medical ethics is being a psychiatrist with an interest in medical ethics. Either of those elements is fantastic on its own, and a handful of psychiatrists do advance the idea of our specialty having special ethical standing and knowledge. Yet, having […]
Physician Autonomy
By Stephen McAndrew. Traditionally, physicians worked in practices owned and operated by physicians as this was thought to ensure that physician judgment concerning patient treatment was not affected by outside non-medical factors. This meant that physicians were seen as autonomous professionals using their education and skill in medical science to treat patients. Increasingly physicians work […]
Patient, Know Thyself: Ethical Complexities in Assessing a Patient’s Level of Insight
By Laura Guidry-Grimes Trust is a precious commodity in clinical settings. Not only do healthcare professionals request an enormous amount of trust from patients the second they walk into the door, but patients expect to be trusted as well. The clinical encounter usually begins with the patient’s explaining why they want medical assistance and any […]
Convicting a doctor of gross negligence manslaughter without striking them off damages public confidence in the profession
By Nathan Hodson. In June 2017 The Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service (MPTS) suspended Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba from the medical register for 12 months. Following a GMC appeal to the High Court, the MPTS was found to have erred in failing to erase Dr Bawa-Garba. Yet, in July of that year, the Court of Appeal decided […]
When should a doctor’s behaviour be criminal?
By Suzanne Ost Two recent, controversial cases involving doctors and the criminal law have caught my attention because they could challenge our perceptions about when it is appropriate to criminalise doctors’ behaviour. We use the criminal law to hold people to account when they commit the most serious wrongs. The State acts in the name […]
Do we exaggerate expected benefits when we communicate with our patients?
By Ramy Sedhom As a first year oncology fellow, I am eager to help patients suffering from cancer. And although some cancer drugs offer large, definite benefit, many drugs improve outcomes only marginally. The medical community and laypersons recognize the need to develop therapeutics that is clinically meaningful. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) defines […]
The best interest standard and the ethical work it does in making medical and public policy decisions for children
By Johan Bester For a while now, I’ve been interested in ethical questions in medicine and public policy concerning children. It started with my work on vaccination ethics, which continues to raise ethical questions of various kinds. Things like: What is the source and limits of parental authority over children? What do we do when […]