Doctors and clinical ethics committees: friends or foes?
نویسنده
چکیده
German and French abstracts see p. 49 & 50 Background: Whose interests should a hospital clinical ethics committee (CEC) serve? This is a particularly important question in conflicts regarding life and death decisions. This question has been raised in Norway by clinicians, politicians and lay people. Method: A retrospective evaluation of six high conflict cases discussed in CECs, all dealing with forgoing life prolonging treatment to children. The information about the cases is taken from media coverage. The focus is on reasons for conflict and on the role of the CECs. The author was involved in the CEC discussion of four of the six cases. Findings: Parents’ distrust in the medical judgments seemed to be an important reason why conflicts developed. In addition value conflicts were obvious, but value aspects sometimes could be covered by clinicians in medical facts. When advice was given in the CEC, they all supported the doctors’ decision. The child’s best interest was the focus of the CEC. In only one of these cases did the CEC’s discussion seem to have had practical consequences. Conclusion: The most important function for a CEC is to secure that value issues are recognized and dealt with in a competent way. Neutrality issues cannot be ignored in the work of the CECs. Lay CEC members, open and systematic working procedures, transparency of arguments and early involvement of all involved parties including the patients and / or next of kin in the discussion seem to be important in order to address neutrality issues.
منابع مشابه
فلسفه وجودی کمیتههای اخلاق بیمارستانی
In order to improve service quality, there are various committees in hospitals including ethics committees, which may be among the most important and necessary establishments within the health care system. Hospital ethics committees are designed to ensure proper clinical decision-making and are responsible for monitoring the ethical provision of services in hospitals. They also aim to assist pa...
متن کاملFriends or foes? The interrelationship between angel and venture capital markets ¬リニ
This paper develops a theory of how angel and venture capital markets interact. Entrepreneurs first receive angel then venture capital funding. The two investor types are ‘friends’ in that they rely upon each other's investments. However, they are also ‘foes,’ because at the later stage the venture capitalists no longer need the angels. Using a costly search model we derive the equilibrium deal...
متن کاملPsychotherapy Research and Practice: Friends or Foes?
The controversy surrounding the idea of evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) is hot. How hot? The American Psychological Association (APA) has published not one but two books on this topic in the past year—the present volume as well as Evidence-Based Practices in Mental Health: Debate and Dialogue on the Fundamental Questions (Norcross, Beutler, & Levant, 2006)—and an APA presidential task force ...
متن کاملThe New Regulation on Establishment, Procedures, and Duties of the Research Ethics Committees in the Islamic Republic of Iran
More than two decades have passed since the establishment of research ethics committees in Iran. With many years of experience of research ethics committees, Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education revised previous regulations and developed “Regulation on the Establishment, Leveling, and Duties of the Biomedical Research Ethics Committees”. Following publish and notification of “Regulatio...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008