Ethical Problems in Medicine

[UTH2003]

The main complaint I notice when talking to or reading about people that are finally out there practicing medicine during their residency is how exhausting it is, and how there is hardly any time for family/social life. For those of you that have hit the wards in rotations or residency, what have been some other issues that have bothered you (ethical problems that you have found troubling or perplexing)?

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[sunflower79]

I am only about to start med school, so the only experience I've had with ethical dilemmas is regarding clinical research. But I think the most urgent ethical problem now is really an economic problem: how is it ethical that every human being is not guaranteed a right to basic health care?

That aside, I read in Intern Blues that it's very difficult to care for people who are terminally ill (in this case, neonates) and stand aside when they suffer because they have a DNR. Basically, it seems like you have to let a patient suffer on your watch.

just my $.02,
sunflower79

 

[edmadison]

Originally posted by sunflower79
That aside, I read in Intern Blues that it's very difficult to care for people who are terminally ill (in this case, neonates) and stand aside when they suffer because they have a DNR. Basically, it seems like you have to let a patient suffer on your watch.

sunflower79

A DNR does not equal sufferring. It simply means that you don't do CPR. The patient can still be treated and his or her pain should be very aggressively managed. There are battles that you cannot win in medicine. Preserving life and maximizing quality of life can often be competing goals. Remember, life is a fatal disease. Death is not always the worst thing that can happen to you. Have you ever seen a Code? It's a brutal procedure that rarely works. Of all adults coding in the hospital, only 5% will leave the hospital with close to their baseline function. Pretty crappy odds.

Ed