Autonomy, Information, and Paternalism in Clinical Communication

Paternalism, Autonomy and Ontology

Alliance among nature and medicine As said by Aristotle (384 BC-322 B.C.), Nature favors utilities and, therefore, when a RHVD occurs, it is the natural heart plasticity, held as Adaptation for Beneficial Cardiac Ontological Remodeling (AB-COR), or simply heart remodeling1, that sustains the preservation of good ejection performance. Medicine validates AB-COR "therapeutic" effect and advises ag...

Against autonomy: justifying coercive paternalism.

Autonomy and paternalism in geriatric medicine

Respecting and encouraging autonomy in the elderly is basic to the practice ofgeriatrics. In this paper, we examine the practice ofcardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and "artificial"feeding in a geriatric unit in a general hospital subscribing to Jtewish orthodox religious principles, in which the sanctity of life is a fundamental ethical guideline. The literature on the administration offood ...

Autonomy versus paternalism in Latin America.

In this paper, Dr. Cherny beautifully reviews how to balance the patient's right to be adequately informed about his or her disease with the powerful cultural beliefs held in many parts of the world. This is certainly one of the most difficult tasks in the patient-oncologist relationship. The disclosure of prognostic information to terminally ill patients has emerged within the last 15 years as...

Supply of medicines: paternalism, autonomy and reality.

Radical changes are taking place in the United Kingdom in relation to the classification of, and access to, medicines. More and more medicines are being made available over the counter both in local pharmacies and in supermarkets. The provision of more open access to medicines may be hailed as a triumph for patient autonomy. This paper examines whether such a claim is real or illusory. It explo...