1,721,033 research outputs found
Demented patients and the quandaries of identity: setting the problem, advancing a proposal
No full textIn the paper, after clarifying terms such as ‘identity’, ‘self’ and ‘personhood’, I propose an empirical account of identity based on the notion of “whole phenotype”. This move allows one to claim the persistence of the individuals before and after their being affected by dementia. Furthermore, I show how this account permits us to address significant questions related to demented individuals’ loss of the capacity of moral decisions
Supporting Supportive Care in Cancer: The ethical importance of promoting a holistic conception of quality of life
Full text linkThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordAdvances in anticancer therapies and increasing attention towards patient quality of life make Supportive Care in Cancer (SCC) a key aspect of excellence in oncological care. SCC promotes a holistic conception of quality of life encompassing clinical, ethical/existential, and spiritual dimensions. Despite the calls of international oncology societies empirical evidence shows that SCC has not yet been implemented. More efforts are needed given the clinical and ethical value of SCC not only for patients, but also for clinicians and hospitals. Drawing on different literature sources, we identify and discuss three important barriers to the implementation of SCC: 1) organisational – lack of adequate resources and infrastructures in over-stretched clinical environments, 2) professional- burnout of cancer clinicians; and 3) cultural – stigma towards death and dying. We add an ethical counselling framework to the SCC implementation toolkit- which, could offer a flexible and resource-light way of embedding SCC, addressing these barriers
La consulenza etica in ambito clinico
No full textUn'analisi di che cosa sia la consulenza etica in ambito clinic
"The Four Faces of Omission: Ontology, Terminology, Epistemology, and Ethics"
No full textIn this paper, the ontological, terminological, epistemological, and ethical aspects of omission are considered in a coherent and balanced framework, based on the idea that there are omissions which are actions and omissions which are non-actions. In particular, we suggest that the approach to causation which best deals with omission is Mackie’s INUS conditional proposal. We argue that omissions are determined partly by the ontological conditional structure of reality, and partly by the interests, beliefs, and values of observers. The final upshot is that moral judgments involved in cases of omissions cannot be grounded on, but are the ground for judgments about what INUS conditions count as omissions
The ethical plausibility of the ‘Right To Try’ laws
Full text linkThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.‘Right To Try’ (RTT) laws originated in the USA to allow terminally ill patients to request access to early stage experimental medical products directly from the producer, removing the oversight and approval of the Food and Drug Administration. These laws have received significant media attention and almost equally unanimous criticism by the bioethics, clinical and scientific communities. They touch indeed on complex issues such as the conflict between individual and public interest, and the public understanding of medical research and its regulation. The increased awareness around RTT laws means that healthcare providers directly involved in the management of patients with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, infective, or neurologic conditions will deal more frequently with patients’ requests of access to experimental medical products.
This paper aims to assess the ethical plausibility of the RTT laws, and to suggest some possible ethical tools and considerations to address the main issues they touch.This paper was funded by the European School of Oncology
Reliability of molecular imaging diagnostics
Full text linkAdvanced medical imaging, such as CT, fMRI and PET, has undergone enormous progress in recent years, both in accuracy and utilization. Such techniques often bring with them an illusion of immediacy, the idea that the body and its diseases can be directly inspected. In this paper we target this illusion and address the issue of the reliability of advanced imaging tests as knowledge procedures, taking positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology as paradigmatic case study. After individuating a suitable notion of reliability, we argue that (1) PET is a highly theory-laden and non-immediate knowledge procedure, in spite of the photographic-like quality of the images it delivers; (2) the diagnostic conclusions based on the interpretation of PET images are population-dependent; (3) PET images require interpretation, which is inherently observer-dependent and therefore variable. We conclude with a three-step methodological proposal for enhancing the reliability of advanced medical imaging
Dealing with death in cancer care: should the oncologist be an amicus mortis?
Full text linkThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordThe way death is (not) dealt with is one of the main determinants of the current crisis of
cancer care. The tendency to avoid discussions about terminal prognoses and to create
unrealistic expectations of fighting death is seriously harming patients, families, healthcare
professionals, and the delivery of high quality and equitable care. Drawing on different
literature sources, we explore key dimensions of the taboo of death: medical; policy; cultural.
We suggest that the oncologist, from a certain moment, could take on the role of amicus
mortis, a classical figure in the past times, and thus accompanying patients towards the end of
their life through palliation, and linking them to psychosocial, and ethical/existential
resources. This presupposes the implementation of Supportive Care in Cancer, and the ethical
idea of relational autonomy based on understanding patients’ needs considering their sociocultural contexts. It is also key to encourage public conversations beyond the area of
medicine to re-integrate death into life
Inividuo e persona. Tre saggi su chi siamo.
No full text“Who are we?” has always been e central question for philosophers, theologians, scientists and jurists. Nowadays, there are great debates about issues such like how we should consider and what rights we should grant to embryos, fetes, stem cells, patients in vegetative states. From all sides, people make contrasting claims, but combatants seem to duel in the fog. In this book, which is written by three scholars, a new attempt is made to clarify the issue, by analyzing its historical genesis (between philosophy, law, and biology), and its possible solutions
- …
