Critical care clinics
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For historical reasons, much of the attention to the doctor-patient relationship has been based on the concept of informed consent. The concepts of information and consent are both problematic, and as a result, consent forms and advanced directives often undermine the goal that led to the consent doctrine. A better ethic can be derived from stressing the connection between doctor and patient and determining how that connection can be fostered.
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Critical care clinics · Jan 1996
ReviewThe language of death: euthanatos et mors--the science of uncertainty.
This article proposes that the medical community has a responsibility to guide and to treat patients through death just as it guides and treats them through life. A number of misunderstood concepts relating to this responsibility are discussed. An approach to the management of death that requires an embracing of medical uncertainty is developed.
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The universal presumption of consent for cardiopulmonary resuscitation creates several practical and ethical dilemmas and should be challenged. Ethically based decision making demands a reality-based dialogue about resuscitation with patients and the community at large.