Developing world bioethics
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Bioethics is a relatively new addition to bedside medical care in Arab world which is characterized by a special culture that often makes blind adaptation of western ethics codes and principles; a challenge that has to be faced. To date, the American University of Beirut Medical Center is the only hospital that offers bedside ethics consultations in the Arab Region aiming towards better patient-centered care. ⋯ Using the case of a child with multiple medical problems and a futile medical condition, we describe how the collaboration of the medical team and the clinical ethics consultant took a comprehensive approach to accompany and lead the parents and the medical team in their decision-making process and how the consultations allowed several salient issues to be addressed. This approach proved to be effective in the Arab cultural setting and indeed did lead to better patientcentered care.
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To investigate the phenomenon of patient-physician mistrust in China, a qualitative study involving 107 physicians, nurses and health officials in Guangdong Province, southern China, was conducted through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. In this paper we report the key findings of the empirical study and argue for the essential role of medical professionalism in rebuilding patient-physician trust. Health professionals are trapped in a vicious circle of mistrust. ⋯ Underlying the circle is the inherent conflict of interest in the healthcare system by which health professionals and hospitals have become profit-driven. This institutional conflict of interest seriously compromises the fundamental principle of medical professionalism-the primacy of patient welfare-as well as the traditional Chinese ideal of "medicine as the art of humanity". Patient trust can be restored through rectifying this institutional conflict of interest and promoting medical professionalism via a series of recommended practical measures.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia passed a Law and Implementing Regulations of Ethics of Research on Living Creatures in 14/09/1431 Hijri (24/08/2010). We have performed an ethical analysis of this law and, accordingly, this paper discusses the major components, key strengths, and weaknesses of this law. ⋯ The Law and its Implementing Regulations contain all ethical requirements for research. We conclude that this law can serve as an example, not only for other Arab countries in the region that have similar values and social structure to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also for other Islamic countries.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO) cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally. Over 80% of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is estimated that 1 million to 2 million people worldwide die each year due to lack of access to an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) or a pacemaker. ⋯ The thesis of this paper is that pacemaker reutilization is a life-saving initiative in LMICs of Nigeria and Ghana. It is cost effective; consistent with the principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice with a commitment to stewardship of resources and the Common Good. Used pacemakers with adequate battery life can be properly sterilized for use by patients in LMICs who cannot afford the cost of a new pacemaker.
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This article will examine the Catholic concept of global justice within a health care framework as it relates to women's needs for delivery doctors in the developing world and women's demands for assisted reproduction in the developed world. I will first discuss justice as a theory, situating it within Catholic social teachings. ⋯ The wide disparities between maternal health in the developing world and elective fertility treatments in the developed world are clearly unjust within Catholic social teachings. I conclude this article by offering policy suggestions for moving closer to health care justice via doctor distribution.