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Medical Ethics (medical + ethics)
Selected AbstractsEssays: RELIGIOUS MEDICAL ETHICS: A Study of the Rulings of Rabbi WaldenbergJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 3 2010Yitzhak Brand ABSTRACT This article seeks to examine how religious ideas that are not the focus of a particular halakhic question become the crux of the ruling, thereby molding it and dictating its bias. We will attempt to demonstrate this through a study of Jewish medical ethics, based on some of the rulings of one of the greatest halakhic decisors of the previous generation: Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg (1915,2006). Rabbi Waldenberg molds his rulings on the basis of a religious principle asserting that the legitimacy of any medical procedure is qualified and limited. Rabbi Waldenberg rejects certain accepted medical practices, including plastic surgery, in vitro fertilization, and organ transplants. Even if these procedures are regarded by other halakhic decisors as being legitimate, for Rabbi Waldenberg they are ethically and religiously improper, and therefore they are halakhically forbidden. [source] MORAL FICTIONS AND MEDICAL ETHICSBIOETHICS, Issue 9 2010FRANKLIN G. MILLER ABSTRACT Conventional medical ethics and the law draw a bright line distinguishing the permitted practice of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from the forbidden practice of active euthanasia by means of a lethal injection. When clinicians justifiably withdraw life-sustaining treatment, they allow patients to die but do not cause, intend, or have moral responsibility for, the patient's death. In contrast, physicians unjustifiably kill patients whenever they intentionally administer a lethal dose of medication. We argue that the differential moral assessment of these two practices is based on a series of moral fictions , motivated false beliefs that erroneously characterize withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in order to bring accepted end-of-life practices in line with the prevailing moral norm that doctors must never kill patients. When these moral fictions are exposed, it becomes apparent that conventional medical ethics relating to end-of-life decisions is radically mistaken. [source] CLARIFYING APPEALS TO DIGNITY IN MEDICAL ETHICS FROM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVEBIOETHICS, Issue 3 2009RIEKE VAN DER GRAAF ABSTRACT Over the past few decades the concept of (human) dignity has deeply pervaded medical ethics. Appeals to dignity, however, are often unclear. As a result some prefer to eliminate the concept from medical ethics, whereas others try to render it useful in this context. We think that appeals to dignity in medical ethics can be clarified by considering the concept from an historical perspective. Firstly, on the basis of historical texts we propose a framework for defining the concept in medical debates. The framework shows that dignity can occur in a relational, an unconditional, a subjective and a Kantian form. Interestingly, all forms relate to one concept since they have four features in common: dignity refers, in a restricted sense, to the ,special status of human beings'; it is based on essential human characteristics; the subject of dignity should live up to it; and it is a vulnerable concept, it can be lost or violated. We argue that being explicit about the meaning of dignity will prevent dignity from becoming a conversation-stopper in moral debate. Secondly, an historical perspective on dignity shows that it is not yet time to dispose of dignity in medical ethics. At least Kantian and relational dignity can be made useful in medical ethics. [source] Cases in Medical Ethics and Law: An Interactive Tutorial , By David Lloyd, Heather Widdows and Donna DickensonDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 1 2007ANNE POPE No abstract is available for this article. [source] Rethinking Medical Ethics: A View From BelowDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 1 2004Paul Farmer ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that lack of access to the fruits of modern medicine and the science that informs it is an important and neglected topic within bioethics and medical ethics. This is especially clear to those working in what are now termed ,resource-poor settings', to those working, in plain language, among populations living in dire poverty. We draw on our experience with infectious diseases in some of the poorest communities in the world to interrogate the central imperatives of bioethics and medical ethics. AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are the three leading infectious killers of adults in the world today. Because each disease is treatable with already available therapies, the lack of access to medical care is widely perceived in heavily disease-burdened areas as constituting an ethical and moral dilemma. In settings in which research on these diseases are conducted but there is little in the way of therapy, there is much talk of first world diagnostics and third world therapeutics. Here we call for the ,resocialising' of ethics. To resocialise medical ethics will involve using the socialising disciplines to contextualise fully ethical dilemmas in settings of poverty and, a related gambit, the systematic participation of the destitute sick. Clinical research across steep gradients also needs to be linked with the interventions that are demanded by the poor and otherwise marginalised. We conclude that medical ethics must grapple more persistently with the growing problem posed by the yawning ,outcome gap' between rich and poor. [source] Reviews in Medical EthicsTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 1 2009Judgment in Medicine: A Review of Means, Medical Care, Philosophy & Medicine, Pragmatism, Value No abstract is available for this article. [source] Reviews in Medical EthicsTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 1 2008Judith F. Daar First page of article [source] Medical Ethics at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib: The Problem of Dual LoyaltyTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2006Peter A. Clark S.J., Ph.D. Although knowledge of torture and physical and psychological abuse was widespread at both the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and known to medical personnel, there was no official report before the January 2004 Army investigation of military health personnel reporting abuse, degradation or signs of torture. Military medical personnel are placed in a position of a "dual loyalty" conflict. They have to balance the medical needs of their patients, who happen to be detainees, with their military duty to their employer. The United States military medical system failed to protect detainee's human rights, violated the basic principles of medical ethics and ignored the basic tenets of medical professionalism. [source] An Introduction to Veterinary Medical Ethics.AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 6 20072nd edition - by Rollin BE No abstract is available for this article. [source] Patients' Responsibilities in Medical EthicsBIOETHICS, Issue 4 2002Heather Draper Patients have not been entirely ignored in medical ethics. There has been a shift from the general presumption that ,doctor knows best' to a heightened respect for patient autonomy. Medical ethics remains one,sided, however. It tends (incorrectly) to interpret patient autonomy as mere participation in decisions, rather than a willingness to take the consequences. In this respect, medical ethics remains largely paternalistic, requiring doctors to protect patients from the consequences of their decisions. This is reflected in a one,sided account of duties in medical ethics. Duties fall mainly on doctors and only exceptionally on patients. Medical ethics may exempt patients from obligations because they are the weaker or more vulnerable party in the doctor,patient relationship. We argue that vulnerability does not exclude obligation. We also look at others ways in which patient responsibilities flow from general ethics: for instance, from responsibilities to others and to the self, from duties of citizens, and from the responsibilities of those who solicit advice. Finally, we argue that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers. [source] Practising Applied Ethics with philosophical integrity: the case of Business EthicsBUSINESS ETHICS: A EUROPEAN REVIEW, Issue 2 2008Deon Rossouw The unprecedented growth and demand for Applied Ethics (Business Ethics, Medical Ethics, Information Ethics, Engineering Ethics, etc.) since the last quarter of the previous century, has opened up a range of new opportunities for the discipline of Philosophy. While these new opportunities have been enthusiastically seized upon by some philosophers, others have frowned upon them or rejected them outright. In order to make sense of this demand for Applied Ethics training, I will first explore in general why this demand for Applied Ethics developed. I will then use the example of Business Ethics to demonstrate and discuss some of the suspicions contemplated by philosophers who regard Applied Ethics as a dangerous and deceitful temptation that potentially can corrupt Philosophy, and that philosophers should at best avoid or at least be very careful of. I will assess the legitimacy and seriousness of these concerns and objections with regard to Business Ethics and then outline an Aristotelian approach to Business Ethics that I believe can be practised with philosophical integrity. [source] 2162: New aspects of the Slug Mucosal Irritation (SMI) assay: Detecting ocular stinging, itching and burning sensationsACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2010J LENOIR Purpose Our eyes are one of the most important senses. They are very sensitive and irritations may occur easily. A screening method for ocular discomfort would be very helpful in the development and refinement of formulations. In the past, the Slug Mucosal Irritation (SMI) assay demonstrated a relation between an increased mucus production (MP) in slugs and an elevated incidence of stinging, itching and burning (SIB) in human eyes. The aim of this study is to compare subjective ocular discomfort caused by shampoos evaluated in volunteers with results of the SIB-procedure. Methods The stinging potency of 1 artificial tear and 10 shampoos was evaluated with the SIB-procedure by placing 3 slugs per treatment group 3 times on 100 µl of the test item. After each 15 min contact period, MP was measured. Evaluation of the results is based upon the total MP during 3 repeated contact periods. Experiments were repeated 3 times. A Human Eye Irritation test with the same test items will be set up (12-period cross-over study, 24 volunteers, study approved by an independent Commission for Medical Ethics, associated with Ghent University Hospital). The participants are dripped 10 µl of a 5% or 10% shampoo dilution in water or the artificial tear in 1 eye, while in the other eye 10 µl of water is administered. The evaluation of the test substances is done both by participants and the ophthalmologist at several time points. Conclusion With the obtained results we will be able to improve the newly developed protocol and examine the predictability with reference to non- and mildly irritating formulations in humans. We hope to conclude that the SIB-procedure is a good tool to predict clinical ocular discomfort. [source] Medical ethics in the 21st centuryJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2000M. Parker Abstract. Parker M, Hope T (Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford, UK). Medical ethics in the 21st century. J Intern Med 2000; 248: 1,6. Objectives. To foresee how medical ethics may develop in the 21st century. Design. We have looked into our crystal ball to see what factors are likely to drive medical ethics over the next few decades. We have given examples of how such factors might affect specific issues. Results. Those factors that we identified as likely to shape the future of medical ethics are: Globalization. Medical ethics is likely to have to grapple increasingly with ethical issues arising from the huge discrepancies in the level of health care available in different countries. Increase in longevity. We predict that there will be, at least amongst the richer nations, a significant increase in life expectancy. This will result in issues of resource allocation becoming increasingly problematic within medicine. Child enhancement. Developments in genetics combined with control of reproduction will make it possible to select our children for a broad range of characteristics. There are optimistic and pessimistic predictions as to how such power will be used. In either case, this area will be an important focus of concern in medical ethics. The biological determination of behaviour. Genetic research will lead to an increasing sense that undesirable behaviour is genetically determined. This will lead to a re-examination of such concepts as criminal responsibility. Therapeutic research and clinical practice. We predict that an increasing amount of clinical practice will be within the setting of clinical trials. The ethics of therapeutic research and clinical practice will need to be brought within a coherent framework. [source] Medical ethics contributes to clinical management: teaching medical students to engage patients as moral agentsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2009Catherine V Caldicott Objectives, In order to teach medical students to engage more fully with patients, we offer ethics education as a tool to assist in the management of patient health issues. Methods, We propose that many dilemmas in clinical medicine would benefit by having the doctor embark on an iterative reasoning process with the patient. Such a process acknowledges and engages the patient as a moral agent. We recommend employing Kant's ethic of respect and a more inclusive definition of patient autonomy drawn from philosophy and clinical medicine, rather than simply presenting dichotomous choices to patients, which represents a common, but often suboptimal, means of approaching both medical and moral concerns. Discussion, We describe how more nuanced teaching about the ethics of the doctor,patient relationship might fit into the medical curriculum and offer practical suggestions for implementing a more respectful, morally engaged relationship with patients that should assist them to achieve meaningful health goals. [source] Patients' Responsibilities in Medical EthicsBIOETHICS, Issue 4 2002Heather Draper Patients have not been entirely ignored in medical ethics. There has been a shift from the general presumption that ,doctor knows best' to a heightened respect for patient autonomy. Medical ethics remains one,sided, however. It tends (incorrectly) to interpret patient autonomy as mere participation in decisions, rather than a willingness to take the consequences. In this respect, medical ethics remains largely paternalistic, requiring doctors to protect patients from the consequences of their decisions. This is reflected in a one,sided account of duties in medical ethics. Duties fall mainly on doctors and only exceptionally on patients. Medical ethics may exempt patients from obligations because they are the weaker or more vulnerable party in the doctor,patient relationship. We argue that vulnerability does not exclude obligation. We also look at others ways in which patient responsibilities flow from general ethics: for instance, from responsibilities to others and to the self, from duties of citizens, and from the responsibilities of those who solicit advice. Finally, we argue that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers. [source] GLOBAL BIOETHICS: UTOPIA OR REALITY?DEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 2 2008SIRKKU K. HELLSTEN ABSTRACT This article discusses what ,global bioethics' means today and what features make bioethical research ,global'. The article provides a historical view of the development of the field of ,bioethics', from medical ethics to the wider study of bioethics in a global context. It critically examines the particular problems that ,global bioethics' research faces across cultural and political borders and suggests some solutions on how to move towards a more balanced and culturally less biased dialogue in the issues of bioethics. The main thesis is that we need to bring global and local aspects closer together, when looking for international guidelines, by paying more attention to particular cultures and local economic and social circumstances in reaching a shared understanding of the main values and principles of bioethics, and in building ,biodemocracy'. [source] Rethinking Medical Ethics: A View From BelowDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 1 2004Paul Farmer ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that lack of access to the fruits of modern medicine and the science that informs it is an important and neglected topic within bioethics and medical ethics. This is especially clear to those working in what are now termed ,resource-poor settings', to those working, in plain language, among populations living in dire poverty. We draw on our experience with infectious diseases in some of the poorest communities in the world to interrogate the central imperatives of bioethics and medical ethics. AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are the three leading infectious killers of adults in the world today. Because each disease is treatable with already available therapies, the lack of access to medical care is widely perceived in heavily disease-burdened areas as constituting an ethical and moral dilemma. In settings in which research on these diseases are conducted but there is little in the way of therapy, there is much talk of first world diagnostics and third world therapeutics. Here we call for the ,resocialising' of ethics. To resocialise medical ethics will involve using the socialising disciplines to contextualise fully ethical dilemmas in settings of poverty and, a related gambit, the systematic participation of the destitute sick. Clinical research across steep gradients also needs to be linked with the interventions that are demanded by the poor and otherwise marginalised. We conclude that medical ethics must grapple more persistently with the growing problem posed by the yawning ,outcome gap' between rich and poor. [source] Does the Emergency Exception from Informed Consent Process Protect Research Subjects?ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2005Nicole M. Delorio MD Abstract Although subject protection is the cornerstone of medical ethics, when considered in the context of research using emergency exception from informed consent, its success is debatable. The participants of a breakout session at the 2005 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference discussed the issues surrounding subject protection and advanced the following recommendations. 1) There are no outcome measures that define "protection"; therefore, it is not currently known whether or not subjects are protected under the current rules. 2) Care must be taken to protect not only the individual from harm during research but also to protect society from unregulated research in other countries and an inability to appropriately advance medical knowledge. 3) Some surrogate markers/methods of protection whose efficacies are debatable include data safety monitoring board activity, the community consultation and public notification (CC/PN) process, and institutional review board approval. 4) Minimal-risk studies should be held to different standards of protection than those that involve more significant risk to the subject. 5) A handful of studies have been published regarding community consultation and notification, and the majority are case studies. Those that are specifically designed to discover the most successful methods are hindered by a lack of formal outcomes measures and tend to have negative results. 6) Follow-up data from the CC/PN process should be disclosed to the Food and Drug Administration and incorporated into study designs. 7) Focus groups and/or random-digit dialing have been suggested as promising methods for fulfilling the CC/PN requirements. 8) Studies need to be funded and performed that formally investigate the best means of CC/PN. 9) More funding for this research should be a priority in the emergency medicine and critical care communities. More data regarding terminated studies should be made available to the research community. 10) Quantifiable markers of success for CC/PN must be validated so that research may determine the most successful methods. 11) Data regarding subjects' and family members' experiences with exception from informed consent studies need to be obtained. [source] Medical ethics in the 21st centuryJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2000M. Parker Abstract. Parker M, Hope T (Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford, UK). Medical ethics in the 21st century. J Intern Med 2000; 248: 1,6. Objectives. To foresee how medical ethics may develop in the 21st century. Design. We have looked into our crystal ball to see what factors are likely to drive medical ethics over the next few decades. We have given examples of how such factors might affect specific issues. Results. Those factors that we identified as likely to shape the future of medical ethics are: Globalization. Medical ethics is likely to have to grapple increasingly with ethical issues arising from the huge discrepancies in the level of health care available in different countries. Increase in longevity. We predict that there will be, at least amongst the richer nations, a significant increase in life expectancy. This will result in issues of resource allocation becoming increasingly problematic within medicine. Child enhancement. Developments in genetics combined with control of reproduction will make it possible to select our children for a broad range of characteristics. There are optimistic and pessimistic predictions as to how such power will be used. In either case, this area will be an important focus of concern in medical ethics. The biological determination of behaviour. Genetic research will lead to an increasing sense that undesirable behaviour is genetically determined. This will lead to a re-examination of such concepts as criminal responsibility. Therapeutic research and clinical practice. We predict that an increasing amount of clinical practice will be within the setting of clinical trials. The ethics of therapeutic research and clinical practice will need to be brought within a coherent framework. [source] Essays: RELIGIOUS MEDICAL ETHICS: A Study of the Rulings of Rabbi WaldenbergJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 3 2010Yitzhak Brand ABSTRACT This article seeks to examine how religious ideas that are not the focus of a particular halakhic question become the crux of the ruling, thereby molding it and dictating its bias. We will attempt to demonstrate this through a study of Jewish medical ethics, based on some of the rulings of one of the greatest halakhic decisors of the previous generation: Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg (1915,2006). Rabbi Waldenberg molds his rulings on the basis of a religious principle asserting that the legitimacy of any medical procedure is qualified and limited. Rabbi Waldenberg rejects certain accepted medical practices, including plastic surgery, in vitro fertilization, and organ transplants. Even if these procedures are regarded by other halakhic decisors as being legitimate, for Rabbi Waldenberg they are ethically and religiously improper, and therefore they are halakhically forbidden. [source] Science in Dachau's shadow: HEBB, Beecher, and the development of CIA psychological torture and modern medical ethicsJOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 4 2007Alfred W. McCoy First page of article [source] Where are the carers in healthcare law and ethics?*LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2007Jonathan Herring The work of carers is too often unvalued and unrecognised. This paper seeks to demonstrate some of the ways in which law and traditional medical ethics overlook the interests of carers and the importance of their work. It argues that this is, in part, due to the individualistic ethic that has come to dominate legal and ethical discourse about medicine. It recommends an approach based on an ethic of care that seeks to promote and protect just relationships of care, rather than an individualised model of rights. [source] The dilemma and reality of transplant tourism: An ethical perspective for liver transplant programsLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2010Thomas D. Schiano Transplant programs are likely to encounter increasing numbers of patients who return after receiving an organ transplant abroad. These patients will require ongoing medical care to monitor their immunosuppression and to provide treatment when the need arises. Transplant societies have condemned transplantation with organs purchased abroad and with organs procured from executed prisoners in China. Nevertheless, transplant programs require guidance on how to respond to the needs of returning transplant tourists and to the needs of patients who may choose to become transplant tourists. This discussion presents a case that raised such issues in our program. It goes on to offer reasons for considering a program's responses in terms of the most relevant principles of medical ethics, namely beneficence and nonjudgmental regard. Liver Transpl 16:113,117, 2010. © 2010 AASLD. [source] Retransplantation for recurrent hepatitis C in the MELD era: Maximizing utilityLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue S10 2004James R. Burton Jr. Key Points 1Retransplantation (re-LT) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence is controversial. Although re-LT accounts for 10% of all liver transplants (LTs), the number of patients requiring re-LT is expected to grow as primary LT recipients survive long enough to develop graft failure from recurrent disease. 2Utility, as applied to the medical ethics of transplantation, refers to allocating organs to those individuals who will make the best use of them. The utility function (U) of liver transplantation is represented by the product of outcome (O = 1-year survival with LT) times emergency (E = 3-month mortality without LT), i.e., U = O × E. 3For primary LT, maximal U is achieved by allocating organs at the highest model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score (i.e., "sickest first"). No significant differences exist between HCV and non-HCV diagnoses. 4For re-LT, maximal utility for HCV and non-HCV diagnoses are achieved at MELD scores of 21 and 24, respectively. Utility starts to decline at MELD scores above 28. 5The current allocation system (MELD) fails to maximize utility with regard to re-LT. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:S59,S64.) [source] Adult-to-adult right hepatic lobe living donor liver transplantationALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 11 2002P. H. Hayashi Summary Spurred on by the critical shortage of cadaveric livers, adult-to-adult right hepatic lobe living donor liver transplantation has grown rapidly as a therapeutic option for selected patients. In the USA alone, the number of living donor liver transplantations has increased six-fold in the last 4 years. The therapy can be complex, bringing together a variety of disciplines, including transplantation medicine and surgery, hepatology, psychiatry and medical ethics. Moreover, living donor liver transplantation is still defining itself in the adult-to-adult application. Uniform standards, guidelines and long-term outcomes are yet to be determined. Nevertheless, initial success has been remarkable, and a basic understanding of this field is essential to any physician contemplating options for their liver failure patients. This review covers a range of topics, including recipient and donor selection and outcomes, donor risk, controversies and future issues. [source] Thick Prescriptions: Toward an Interpretation of Pharmaceutical Sales PracticesMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2004MICHAEL J. OLDANI Anthropologists of medicine and science are increasingly studying all aspects of pharmaceutical industry practices,from research and development to the marketing of prescription drugs. This article ethnographically explores one particular stage in the life cycle of pharmaceuticals: sales and marketing. Drawing on a range of sources,investigative journalism, medical ethics, and autoethnography,the author examines the day-to-day activities of pharmaceutical salespersons, or drug reps, during the 1990s. He describes in detail the pharmaceutical gift cycle, a three-way exchange network between doctors, salespersons, and patients and how this process of exchange is currently in a state of involution. This gift economy exists to generate prescriptions (scripts) and can mask and/or perpetuate risks and side effects for patients. With implications of pharmaceutical industry practices impacting everything from the personal-psychological to the global political economy, medical anthropologists can play a lead role in the emerging scholarly discourse concerned with critical pharmaceutical studies. [source] Learning medical ethics in a primary care clinicMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 11 2008Keng Yin Loh No abstract is available for this article. [source] Bringing medical ethics to life: an educational programme using standardised patientsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 11 2002Janet Fleetwood No abstract is available for this article. [source] THE PHILOSOPHY OF JOSEPH MARGOLISMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 5 2005Göran Hermerén Abstract: In this article I focus on some of Joseph Margolis's contributions to medical ethics. I first discuss some of Margolis's normative and metaphysical views on death and abortion, particularly in his early work Negativities, as well as some of his metaphysical assumptions. Then these views and assumptions are related to his theory of persons and, by implication, his theory of culture, set forth in a number of later works. In the course of the discussion, I call attention to some controversial issues of today, such as embryonic stem cell research and the creation of embryos for the sole purpose of research, and ask for Margolis's views on them, given his earlier contributions and assumptions. Finally, I comment on his relativism and his program for research in aesthetics and ethics. [source] Medical Ethics at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib: The Problem of Dual LoyaltyTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2006Peter A. Clark S.J., Ph.D. Although knowledge of torture and physical and psychological abuse was widespread at both the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and known to medical personnel, there was no official report before the January 2004 Army investigation of military health personnel reporting abuse, degradation or signs of torture. Military medical personnel are placed in a position of a "dual loyalty" conflict. They have to balance the medical needs of their patients, who happen to be detainees, with their military duty to their employer. The United States military medical system failed to protect detainee's human rights, violated the basic principles of medical ethics and ignored the basic tenets of medical professionalism. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||