An editorial in the Toronto Star notes that some physicians are refusing to continue with families when parents refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated. In most cases the refusals are prompted by distrust of conventional medicine and fear of side effects. The editorial supports those who recommend that physicians keep objecting families in their practices so that children can continue to get good medical care and to provide the opportunity to convince unwilling parents to consent to vaccination. [Toronto Star]
Category: Ethics
British General Medical Council proposes to force physicians to set aside “personal beliefs”
Britain’s General Medical Council has released a draft document for consultation that proposes to force physicians to facilitate practices to which they object for reasons of conscience by helping patients find someone who will provide the procedures. The proposal would also prohibit physicians from explaining their beliefs to patients “in ways that. . . are likely to cause them distress” – a subjective requirement open to abuse by disgruntled patients. Comments are sought from 18 April, 2012 to 13 June, 2012. [Document] [GMC] [Bioedge]
Prescribing drugs to secure religious conformity: question of conscience?
Haaretz reports that psychiatric drugs are being prescribed to members of the ultra-orthodox Jewish Haredi community to suppress sexual urges and help them to conform to religious prohibitions against masturbation, homosexual conduct and frequent sexual relations. A posting on the Practical Ethics blog of Oxford University asks whether or not psychiatrists may, for reasons of conscience, refuse to prescribe drugs for this reason. The writer, quoting Julian Salvulescu’s denunciation of freedom of conscience in health care, reasons “a psychiatrist has no ground for conscientious objection and should provide the treatment to Haredim,” but ultimately concludes that this seems “intuitively incorrect.”
Pharmaceutical Hippocratic Oath
The Pharmaceutical Hippocratic Oath has been prepared by Reprieve, an organization in the United Kingdom that works to ensure fair judicial processes around the world. The group places special emphasis on cases involving capital punishment. The oath includes the following statement:
“We dedicate our work to developing and distributing pharmaceuticals to the service of humanity; we will practice our profession with conscience and dignity; the right to health of the patient will be our first consideration; we condemn the use of any of our pharmaceuticals in the execution of human beings.”
Some of the issues associated with the campaign it are relevant to freedom of conscience for health care workers, especially pharmacists. They include the problem of complicity, degrees of participation and the apparent appeal to a de facto corporate conscience.
Increasing medical alteration of disabled children
Surgical and pharmaceutical treatment to limit the growth of disabled children is becoming more frequent. A British newspaper has identified a dozen families involved in them. Such procedures first came to public notice about five years ago, when a severely disabled nine year old girl living near Seattle was subjected to a series of medical procedures to prevent her from growing further. [The Guardian]