Summary
Physicians face several different ethical microquestions in treating patients of all ages. Ethical questions about withdrawal of life support, informed consent, and extent of therapeutic intervention are encountered more frequently in the treatment of older patients. Moral pluralism and rapid technological advancement complicate the task of developing an acceptable set of ethical guidelines for addressing these questions. The formulation of comprehensive ethical guidelines for medical practice requires a wide-ranging discussion by people with backgrounds other than medicine.
Ethical macroquestions in medical care for the aged include important questions of health care distribution, and physician bias toward older people. Studies have documented the consequences of physician bias to be reduced treatment time with older patients and the absence of physician care in nursing homes. The medical profession should assert leadership in the resolution of some of these macroquestions in caring for the aged.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Medical Association: Principles of medical ethics. In Current Opinions of the Judicial Council of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1982.
Boisaubin, E.V., Laux, L., Roessler, R., Rankin, B., Lester, J., and Merrill, J.M.: The personality profile of the biased physician.Clin. Res. 31, 923A (abstr.) (1983).
Dickman, R.: Must nursing homes be the end of the line?Hastings Center Report 11, 43–44 (1981).
Edelstein, L.: Ancient Medicine. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1967.
Fried, C.: Right and Wrong. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Geiger, D.: How future professionals view the elderly: A comparative analysis of social work law, and medical students’ perceptions.Gerontologist 18, 591–594 (1978).
Gorlin, R., and Zucker, H.D.: Physicians’ reactions to patients.New Engl J. Med. 308, 1059–1063 (1983).
Grouse, L.: Has the machine become the physician?JAMA 250,(14) 1891 (1983).
Kane, R.L., Hammer, D., and Byrnes, N.: Getting care to nursing-home patients: A problem and a proposal.Med. Care 15(2), 174–180 (1977).
Kane, R.L., Solomon, D., Beck, J., Keeler, E., and Kane, R.: The future need for geriatric manpower in the United States.New Engl J. Med. 302, 1327–1332 (1980).
Klein, D., Najman, J., Kohrman, A.F., and Munro, C.: Patient characteristics that elicit negative responses from family physicians.J. Fam. Pract.14(5), 881–888 (1982).
Mitchell, J.: Medicare Access to Physician Services in Nursing Homes, Health Care Financing Administration Grant No. 95-P-97885/1-02, 1982 (unpublished).
Newton, L.: Collective responsibility in health care.J. Med. Philos 7(1), 11–21 (1982).
Pellegrino, E.: The virtuous physician and the ethics of medicine. In Shelp, E. (Ed.), Virtue and Medicine. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel (in press).
Ratzan, R.: Being old makes you different: The ethics of research with elderly subjects.Hastings Center Report 10(5), 32–42 (1980).
Rawls, J.: A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971.
Reichel, W.: Clinical Aspects of Aging. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1978.
Spence, D.L., Feigenbaum, E.M., Fitzgerald, F., and Roth, J.: Medical student attitudes toward the geriatric patient.J. Am. Geriatr. Soc.16(1), 976–983 (1968).
Thomas, C.B.: What becomes of medical students: The dark side.Johns Hopkins Medical Journal 138, 185–195 (1976).
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Long-Term Care, Special Committee on Aging: Doctors in nursing homes: The shunned responsibility; Nursing home care in the United States. Supporting Paper No. 3, Washington, D.C., 1975.
Veatch, R.: Professional ethics: New principles for physicians?Hastings Center Report 10(3), 16–19 (1980).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Merrill, J.M., Jones, J., Laux, L. (1985). Micro- and Macroethical Aspects of Caring for the Aged. In: Gaitz, C.M., Niederehe, G., Wilson, N.L. (eds) Aging 2000: Our Health Care Destiny. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5062-3_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5062-3_32
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9546-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5062-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive