Journal of medical ethics
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On 23 September 2002, the Belgian law on euthanasia came into force. This makes Belgium the second country in the world (after the Netherlands) to have an Act on euthanasia. Even though there is currently legal regulation of euthanasia in Belgium, very little is known about how this legal regulation could be translated into care for patients who request euthanasia.
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Journal of medical ethics · Apr 2004
CommentThe standard of care debate: against the myth of an "international consensus opinion".
It is argued by Lie et al in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics that an international consensus opinion has formed on the issue of standards of care in clinical trials undertaken in developing countries. This opinion, so they argue, rejects the Declaration of Helsinki's traditional view on this matter. ⋯ Although the latter conclusion is supported by this author, it will be demonstrated in this paper that there is not such a thing as an international consensus opinion, and that the authorities used by Lie et al as evidence in support of their claim should not be relied upon as authorities or final arbiters in this debate. Furthermore, it will be shown that arguments advanced substantively to show that lower standards of care are ethically acceptable in the developing world, conflate scientific with economic reasons, and ultimately fail to bolster the case they are designed to support.
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Journal of medical ethics · Apr 2004
The standard of care debate: the Declaration of Helsinki versus the international consensus opinion.
The World Medical Association's revised Declaration of Helsinki endorses the view that all trial participants in every country are entitled to the worldwide best standard of care. In this paper the authors show that this requirement has been rejected by every national and international committee that has examined this issue. They argue that the consensus view now holds that it is ethically permissible, in some circumstances, to provide research participants less than the worldwide best care. Finally, the authors show that there is also consensus regarding the broad conditions under which this is acceptable.
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Journal of medical ethics · Apr 2004
The ethics of research related to health care in developing countries.
The Ethics of Research Related to Health Care in Developing Countries by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics makes a number of innovative recommendations that depart from codes such as the Declaration of Helsinki. It recommends that standards of care might be relativised to the standard of that nation. It recommends that very good reasons need to be given for not giving post-trial access to medications but recognises that there may be justifiable instances of this. It is the view of the authors that these and other recommendations of the report are sensible pieces of advice given the complexities of the developing world.
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Traditionally, surgical practice has been experiential and based on the contemporary understanding of basic mechanisms of disease. It was both a science and an art and depended to far too great an extent on the individualism and self belief of its main exponents. "Evidence based medicine" (EBM) emerged in the 1980s and a new gospel of "Rules of Evidence" was introduced. ⋯ There are valid and spurious reasons for this that are discussed. The situation is improving but inevitable tensions remain between the surgeon committed to the individual patient here and now, and the clinical researcher whose focus is the benefit of future patients in the larger community.