Responsibility to or for in the physician-patient relationship?

The threat of malpractice litigation in the United States is encouraging physicians again to assume responsibility for their patients. The fundamental ethical problem, however, is that this approach denies the patient's moral agency. In this essay, responsibility to patients, rather than for th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McMillan, R. C. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: BMJ Publ. 1995
In: Journal of medical ethics
Year: 1995, Volume: 21, Issue: 2, Pages: 112-115
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:The threat of malpractice litigation in the United States is encouraging physicians again to assume responsibility for their patients. The fundamental ethical problem, however, is that this approach denies the patient's moral agency. In this essay, responsibility to patients, rather than for them, is discussed as an alternative to the emerging neo-paternalism. Responsibility to avoids the ethical problems of assuming responsibility for moral agents and could reduce the threat of litigation as well.
ISSN:1473-4257
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of medical ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1136/jme.21.2.112