By Cullen M. Lilley and Kamran M. Mirza. As you sit in your hospital room after surgery, a feeling of uncertainty may start to grow. Each tube blood draw is like a tally mark for another day gone by without an answer. Meanwhile, each tube of blood, biopsy material, or the resection from your surgery […]
Category: Medical ethics
Remediating dishonesty: perspectives of a doctor and ethicist
By Daniel Sokol and Tarek Seda In June 2017, Dr Tarek Seda was a locum A & E doctor who worked consecutive night shifts in an emergency department. During this time, Dr Seda fell asleep, failed to adhere to his allocated break times, and made a number of errors when assessing and treating patients. A […]
Animal content in prescribed medications and medical goods: Are we asking enough questions?
By Sarah Cullivan Dietary restrictions that exclude animal content are common and complex. While it is generally acknowledged and accepted that most medications are tested on animals prior to the introduction in human subjects to ensure safety, it is not always clear to prescribing physicians and consuming patients which medications and medical products are animal […]
Who’s responsible for informing relatives about genetic risk?
By Kalle Grill and Anna Rosén. It is established practice in many countries that healthcare professionals encourage patients to share relevant risk information with genetic relatives. We mostly endorse this practice but question a normative assumption that typically underpins it. Both practitioners and academics in the field are in general agreement that: It is desirable […]
Pandemic prioritarianism: what can we learn from Covid-19?
By Lasse Nielsen. Medical ethics have to learn from actual ethical experiences from the medical practice. The relevant interpretation and application of ethical theories must adhere to issues and questions that arise in clinical practice, and oftentimes we find that our intuitions about practical matters do not fit our theories and principles. In these cases, […]
“Healthcare heroes”: The danger of military metaphors
By Zahra H. Khan, Yoshiko Iwai, Sayantani DasGupta Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Healthcare Hero” metaphor has gained tremendous popularity, generating praise for healthcare workers as well as caution against the metaphor’s potentially negative consequences. In her recent article, Dr. Caitríona L Cox explains that, when heroized, healthcare workers face unfair expectations of personal sacrifice […]
Using moral case deliberation as an analysis tool for exploring decision-making around admission to intensive care, in research before and during COVID-19
By Mia Svantesson, Bert Molewijk and Anne-Marie Slowther This raises the question of what is or should be established good practice in this decision-making process, which is often complex, grounded in uncertainty, and taking place in a time pressured environment. It is important that in the heat of a pandemic we do not lose sight […]
The current call for a (fresh) inquiry on assisted suicide
By Nataly Papadopoulou. As a society and as individuals, we face challenges in dealing with debilitating, horrible diseases causing suffering, indignity, and loss of autonomy. With increased emphasis on individual autonomy in a clinical but also in a legal setting, some patients wish to control the end of their lives. Perhaps one of the most […]
Healthcare must stop ignoring future patients!
By Christian Munthe, Davide Fumagalli and Erik Malmqvist Most countries with publicly funded healthcare systems have ethically informed priority setting schemes to decide how to allocate scarce resources. Established principles in such schemes recognise patients’ need of care, the effects of interventions, and background requirements of equal consideration and cost-effectiveness. However, the typical use of […]
Why your doctor may be right to not tell you about your abnormal results
By Patrick Burch. As a GP I spend a significant proportion of time interpreting blood results. When a patient has any test performed, they should understand why it is being done and have consented to it. However, in many cases, perhaps the majority, patients are not fully aware what blood tests are being done and […]