Medical Harm: Historical, Conceptual and Ethical Dimensions of Iatrogenic Illness

ISBN-13: 9780521634908 / Angielski / Miękka / 1998 / 296 str.

Alan I. Faden; Virginia A. Sharpe; Virginia A. Sharpe

Opis

It is estimated that up to thirteen percent of hospital admissions result from the adverse effects of diagnosis or treatment, and that anywhere from 44,000 to 98,000 hospital deaths annually are the result of errors. The obligation to "do no harm" has been central to medical conduct since ancient times, yet iatrogenic illness and medical error have now come to be recognized as significant risk factors in health care delivery. This book integrates history, philosophy, medical ethics and empirical data to examine the concept and phenomenon of medical harm. Issues covered include medical error, appropriateness of care, acceptable risk and practitioner accountability, and recommendations for limiting iatrogenic harm.

Recenzje

'… a useful exploration of the historical and ethical basis of medical harm …' The Lancet

Spis treści

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: 1. Divided loyalties: harm to the profession vs. harm to the patient; 2. Medical epistemology, medical authority and shifting interpretations of beneficence and non-maleficence; 3. Medical harms and patients' rights: the democratization of medical morality; Part II: 4. The moral basis of medicine: why 'do no harm'?; 5. Due care as a specification of the duty to 'do no harm'; 6.Conceptual and ethical dimensions of medical harm; Part III: 7. From hospitalism to nosocomial infection control; 8. Adverse effects of drug treatment; 9. Unnecessary surgery; 10. The concept of appropriateness in patient care; 11. Recommendations for limiting iatrogenic harm; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.