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Huh? Law firms have whole departments related to professional practice and it's a major topic among medics at conferences and elsewhere (you can take masters d

Huh? Law firms have whole departments related to professional practice and it's a major topic among medics at conferences and elsewhere (you can take masters degrees in medical professional ethics). However I think it misses the point. Doctors will frequently give options which are not ideal. Patients are offered choices - do you want the surgery (which has risks) or would you like to try the drugs (which are less likely to work and have side effects, but there is less risk and the patient may just not want surgery) or do nothing (which will achieve nothing but the patient may not like the other options and wish to live with the condition). Similarly lawyers will frequently tell clients they shouldn't follow a course of action (a plea, filing a libel claim) to be over ruled. Being professional is providing all the information and giving the person the choice and then doing the best job you can based on their decision, it's not about some absolute right or wrong.

alxp 16y ago
Yep, doctors have been complicit in creating the United States' for-profit healthcare system. If they live by a code of ethics that says "first, do no harm" then an objective outside observer would say they've not only failed miserably, they've actively worked to harm people who need medical care.
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  This isn't political or profit motivated, I'm not in the US. I'm thinking of doctors in the UK where profit and costs are generally not the primary concern. I'm specifically thinking of a case a friend was talking about. A woman presented with a certain condition and said she didn't want surgery or drugs. The friend had to explain the options and that medically most effective interventions tend to fall into one of those categories but living with the condition was also an option. I don't know what the woman decided but the "professional" course of action wasn't about efficacy or cure, it's about understanding that there are needs beyond those which are "technically" best.

alxp 16y ago

Yep, doctors have been complicit in creating the United States' for-profit healthcare system. If they live by a code of ethics that says "first, do no harm" then an objective outside observer would say they've not only failed miserably, they've actively worked to harm people who need medical care.

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
This isn't political or profit motivated, I'm not in the US. I'm thinking of doctors in the UK where profit and costs are generally not the primary concern. I'm specifically thinking of a case a friend was talking about. A woman presented with a certain condition and said she didn't want surgery or drugs. The friend had to explain the options and that medically most effective interventions tend to fall into one of those categories but living with the condition was also an option. I don't know what the woman decided but the "professional" course of action wasn't about efficacy or cure, it's about understanding that there are needs beyond those which are "technically" best.