Journal of medical ethics
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Journal of medical ethics · Jun 1984
Editorial Comparative StudyActs and omissions: killing and letting die.
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Too many people now have access to confidential medical information. Patients are becoming justifiably wary and the doctor-patient relationship is deteriorating. We can avert the developing crisis by allowing patients to keep their own medical records at home. This will ensure that confidentiality is respected and that patients continue to trust their doctors.
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With the increase in the proportion of hospital deaths there is increasing debate about appropriateness of place of death. Death should be a family affair but is increasingly hidden from public view. In contrast to those who die at home, most of those who die in hospital die alone with no relatives or friends with them. ⋯ It is not the illness itself which leads to hospital admission in many cases but its duration and nature--and the type of burden it places on relatives. Although home care should be encouraged where possible, no amount of exhortation to the family or to the dying person of the advantages of home care can disguise the fact that demand for domiciliary services is greater than is now being provided. The paper is based on one read to a London Medical Group Symposium.
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Journal of medical ethics · Jun 1983
Research on human subjects: Australian ethics committees take tentative steps.
Australian medical researchers are attempting to formulate a response to some of the ethical issues in medical research. The debate over the in vitro fertilisation programme has highlighted some community concern about research ethics and the role of the ethics committee. ⋯ However, this approach plus some problems with the nature of informed consent, begs the question of the role of these committees in the broader context of medical research in the community. Important aspects of a seminar for members of hospital ethics committees are reported.