[Medical social responsibility in an era of personalized medicine]. / Medisch maatschappelijke verantwoordelijkheid in een tijd van precisiegeneeskunde.

How much social responsibility do physicians have? Historically, care for collective health and well-being has been part and parcel of the responsibility of the medical profession. The changes in the urban environment to which physicians contributed at the end of the 19th century bear witness to this. During the 20th century, however, the medical search for extra health gain has focused increasingly on the individual. This has reached a provisional zenith in personalized medicine. This article argues that physician are letting patients, society and themselves down by paying so much attention to the individual and so little to social factors that cause disease or promote health. The exceptional position that physicians occupy in identifying and tackling pathological processes advocates an increase in societal and political engagement.

Desires in palliative medicine. Five models of the physician-patient interaction on palliative treatments related to Hellenistic therapies of desires.

In this paper, we explore the desires that play a role at the palliative stage and relate them to various approaches to patient autonomy. What attitude can physicians and other caregivers take to the desires of patients at the palliative stage? We examine this question by introducing five physicians who are consulted by Jackie, an imaginary patient with metastic lung carcinoma. By combining the models of the physician-patient relationship developed by Emanuel and Emanuel (1992) and the Hellenistic approaches to desires analyzed by Nussbaum (1994), five different ways of dealing with desires in the context of palliative care are sketched. The story of Jackie shows that desires are to a certain extent responsive to reasoning. In the palliative process, that can be a reason to devote attention to the desires of patients and caregivers and to determine which desires need to be fulfilled, which are less important, and how they are linked to emotions the patient has.

Personal values and cancer treatment refusal.

This pilot study explores the reasons patients have for refusing chemotherapy, and the ways oncologists respond to them. Our hypothesis, generated from interviews with patients and oncologists, is that an ethical approach that views a refusal as an autonomous choice, in which patients are informed about the pros and cons of treatment and have to decide by weighing them, is not sufficient. A different ethical approach is needed to deal with the various evaluations that play a role in treatment refusal. If patients forgo further treatment, while curative or palliative methods are available, there is no perspective from which to integrate the weighing of pros and cons of treatment and the preferences and values of individual cancer patients. A discrepancy thus results as regards what "good reasons" are, evoking misunderstandings or even breaking off communication. Suggestions are given for follow up research.

Medical students' cases as an empirical basis for teaching clinical ethics.

PURPOSE: To identify ethical issues that interns encounter in their clinical education and thus build a more empirical basis for the required contents of the clinical ethics curriculum. METHOD: The authors analyzed a total of 522 required case reports on ethical dilemmas experienced by interns from September 1995 to May 1999 at the medical school of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. They identified four regularly described and numerous less frequently described topics. RESULTS: The interns addressed a wide range of ethical themes. In 45% of the cases, they mentioned disclosure or non-disclosure of information and informed consent; in 37%, medical decisions at the end of life; in 16%, medical failures; and in 9%, problems transferring patients from one caregiver to another. The interns also identified 27 themes linked to their unique position as interns and 19 themes related to specific types of patients. CONCLUSION: Based on self-reported experiences, the authors conclude that clinical ethics teachers should reflect on a multitude of dilemmas. Special expertise is required with respect to end-of-life decisions, truth telling, medical failures, and transferring patients from one caregiver to another. The clinical ethics curriculum should encourage students to voice their opinions and deal with values, responsibilities, and the uncertainty and failings of medical interventions.