Abstract
Clinical ethics is the identification, analysis, and resolution of ethical dilemmas that arise in the care of individual patients (Jonsen, A. R., Siegler, M., & Winslade, W. J. (2015). Clinical ethics (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.). Cancer patients and their families often encounter questions of an ethical nature. Many of these dilemmas can be adequately addressed by the healthcare professionals caring for that patient. Sometimes, however, the care team or the family may request help from an ethics consultant or ethics committee.
Portions of this chapter have been adapted and modified from Chaps. 1, 4, 5, and 9 of Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor: A Handbook for Clergy and Health-Care Professionals by Robert D. Orr, MD, CM, published by Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
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Notes
- 1.
Though pain and shortness of breath are the symptoms of greatest concern for patients and families, there are a host of other symptoms that should be addressed in a person with chronic or fatal illness, including nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, hiccups, cough, dry mouth, urinary difficulties, weakness, fatigue, insomnia, and agitation.
- 2.
A humorous personal experience is documented in Art Buchwald’s 2006 book Too Soon to Say Goodbye. New York: Random House.
References
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Orr, R.D. (2018). Ethical Issues in Cancer Patients. In: Fitzpatrick, T. (eds) Quality of Life Among Cancer Survivors . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75223-5_4
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