Should physicians engage beliefs and practices that do not agree with their medical judgment as a means to securing patient adherence to recommended treatment?
An argument that the concept of judicious dissent can resolve the debate over a physician’s conscience-based right to refuse to provide lawful services.
An argument that an individual physician’s conscience-based decision not to offer specific, lawful medical services should not restrict patients’ access to those services.
A hypothetical clinical case discusses patient demand for advanced diagnostics such as MRIs when physicians do not recommend such tests. Better patient education is the suggested approach.
Guidelines exist for delivery-room treatment for newborns at the margins of viability, and when the rules and limits are reached, parental values are important.
Guidelines exist for delivery-room treatment for newborns at the margins of viability, and when the rules and limits are reached, parental values are important.