Autonomy, paternalism and understanding
I gave a talk Wednesday as part of an ethics series here at Duke. Here is one take on my presentation. See if you can spot the Far Side reference!
I gave a talk Wednesday as part of an ethics series here at Duke. Here is one take on my presentation. See if you can spot the Far Side reference!
A while back, DVD companies hoping to sell their products in countries like Poland faced a dilemma. They could sell their products at a nice profit in the booming U.S. market, but to sell products in those other countries, they had to lower their prices. Such variable pricing is a common business practice. All kinds of services…
WHYY in Philadelphia has a report out on a new study I participated in, led by my good friend Scott Halpern. The study revealed the strange lengths to which physicians will go to help their patients, even if it hurts other patients. To see what Scott and I have to say, click on this link.
No sooner had the Obama administration committed a billion dollars to comparative effectiveness research than the critics began laying out their concerns: such research is a prelude to rationing, they said; it threatens to thwart doctors’ and patients’ abilities to make their own decisions. It will transfer too much power to government bureaucrats and treat…
In her deservedly best-selling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot reproduces the language of Lacks’s informed consent document when she was about to undergoing her cancer surgery at Johns Hopkins in 1951: I hereby give consent to the staff of the Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and under any anesthetic…
Check out my latest podcast, which accompanies a new article I co-authored with Robert Silbergleit. In the article, and in the podcast, I discuss a problem plaguing clinical research: that doctors are sometimes not convinced by previous research, and thus want to see more evidence before changing their practice, but at the same time experts,…
“I can fix this.” The neurosurgeon was nothing if not confident. “The cyst is pushing on your spinal cord. If it continues to expand, it will damage your nerves and you may lose the ability to walk. But I can remove the cyst, and cure you.” The patient was a business school professor, a man…