Compassion needs reason too
Article Abstract:
The role of compassion in physician-assisted suicide is controversial. A set of guidelines has been recommended for physicians who receive a request for physician-assisted suicide from a terminally ill patient. These requests place physicians in a very difficult position. The primary role of physicians in the care of the terminally ill is to alleviate pain and to provide comfort. Physician-assisted suicide may not be justifiable as compassionate treatment for the dying. It involves the intentional taking of a human life which may never be morally permissible. Certain implicit assumptions have been made to support this practice. These assumptions may not be correct. Physician-assisted suicide may also increase the risk of intentional or non-intentional abuse of power by physicians.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
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Is truth telling to the patient a cultural artifact?
Article Abstract:
Physicians should realize that patients from some ethnic groups do not expect the doctor to tell them the truth about their condition. In the US, which has a long tradition of individual rights and autonomy, patients are often told the truth so they can participate in the decisions involved in their care. But the same is not true in countries like Italy, where patients are routinely shielded from the truth. This is considered to be in the best interests of the patient. Many American doctors may withhold the truth from their patients if they think it will harm them. Because the US population consists of many diverse cultures, American physicians need to learn whether their individual patients expect to hear the truth or prefer to delegate decision making to the doctor.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Ethics
Article Abstract:
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act and the National Institutes of Health panel's approval of funding for human embryo research provide debate of how medicine should treat human life. Guidelines were established and production of embryos was approved based on benefits of research, federal control of the research, and the need to test embryos before using reproductive technologies. Objections to the use of embryos focus on the status of the embryo as a human being moving through its development. Opponents of physician-assisted suicide believe it is not a ethical role of the physician to help depressed and terminally ill patients end their lives.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1995
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