Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Within reason, it is every adult American's legal right to make his or her own decisions.Included in this right is the freedom to make decisions about one's physician, medical treatment plan, and other health care matters.A democratic society does, however, provide moral, ethical, and social guidelines within which these decisions must fall-medical and health care choices are no different.The goal of this framework is to optimize personal freedom and autonomy, while ensuring that individual choices are within the guidelines for safe, acceptable behavior and practice.The imposition of limits is a complicated matter, though, particularly when it comes to health care, where a patient must demonstrate decision-making capacity, often measured by his or her physician.In his New England Journal of Medicine article, "Assessment of Patients' Competence to Consent to Treatment," Paul Appelbaum explores the criteria for determining patient competence and the tools that are commonly used for such assessment.Appelbaum recognizes that there is no tool that is "perfect" for determining competence, but offers some suggestions for maximizing the resources physicians have.
Source: The AMA Journal of Ethic
Author: Jorie Epstein
Institutions: American Medical Association, University of Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W23580790