Document Detail


Should ethics consultants help clinicians face scarcity in their practice?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  18375673     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
In an international survey of rationing we have found that European physicians encounter scarcity-related ethical difficulties, and are dissatified with the resolution of many of these cases. Here we further examine survey results to explore whether ethics support services would be potentially useful in addressing scarcity related ethical dilemmas. Results indicate that while the type of help offered by ethics support services was considered helpful by physicians, they rarely referred difficulties regarding scarcity to ethics consultation. We propose that ethics consultants could assist physicians by making the process less difficult, and by contributing to decisions being more ethically justifiable. Expertise in bringing considerations of justice to bear on real cases could also be useful in recognising an unjust limit, as opposed to a merely frustrating limit. Though these situations are unlikely to be among the most frequently referred to ethics support services, ethics consultants should be prepared to address them.
Authors:
S A Hurst; S Reiter-Theil; A-M Slowther; R Pegoraro; R Forde; M Danis
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of medical ethics     Volume:  34     ISSN:  1473-4257     ISO Abbreviation:  J Med Ethics     Publication Date:  2008 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2008-03-31     Completed Date:  2008-07-24     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7513619     Medline TA:  J Med Ethics     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  241-6     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Geneva MedicalSchool, Geneva, Switzerland.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Attitude of Health Personnel
Decision Making / ethics,  physiology*
Ethicists / psychology*
Ethics, Clinical*
Europe
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Physicians / ethics,  psychology*
Resource Allocation / ethics*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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