The Significance of Empirical Bioethics for Medical Practice: A Physician's Perspective

Joel Frader

doi:10.1016/S1479-3709(07)11002-5

Login

Welcome:
Guest

Search for:

Browse:

Product Information:

Resources:

Advances in Bioethics

ISSN: 1479-3709
Series editor(s): Dr Wayne Shelton

Subject Area: Health Care Management/Healthcare

Content: Series Volumes | Current Volume RSS

Options: To add Favourites and Table of Contents Alerts please take a Emerald profile

Document request:
The Significance of Empirical Bioethics for Medical Practice: A Physician's Perspective

Document Information:
Title:	The Significance of Empirical Bioethics for Medical Practice: A Physician's Perspective
Author(s):	Joel Frader
Volume:	11 Editor(s): Liva Jacoby, Laura A. Siminoff ISBN: 978-0-7623-1266-5 eISBN: 978-1-84950-383-9
Citation:	Joel Frader (2007), The Significance of Empirical Bioethics for Medical Practice: A Physician's Perspective, in Liva Jacoby, Laura A. Siminoff (ed.) Empirical Methods for Bioethics: A Primer (Advances in Bioethics, Volume 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.21-35
DOI:	10.1016/S1479-3709(07)11002-5 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Extract:	While some of us enjoy engaging in many forms of bioethical activity, including philosophical analysis and debate, clinical ethics consultation, and empirical research, only the latter matters much to the practicing physician. Practically minded, most doctors have little concern with fine moral distinctions when faced with a patient's request for assistance in dying or a pharmaceutical company's offer to attend a product “consultation” session at a first class resort in addition to an attractive fee for participation. Physicians want to know what facts might bear on ethical questions they confront, how ethical conflicts that have an impact on patient care can be understood and resolved, and whether research reveals consistently clear, helpful findings. The following discussion offers some examples of how empirical research related to bioethical issues has provided evidence and guides for physicians at both individual-patient care and policy levels, and further reviews areas that warrant continued research attention.