Resources for medical decision-making in situations of high uncertainty.
The high standards of medical practice rest on the assumption that a physician's competence equips him or her to act on a patient's behalf. The conundrum created by medical uncertainty regarding the patient's diagnosis or the appropriate course of treatment seldom receives attention in the medical literature. This article highlights how the age-old medical ideal of beneficence, the modern concept of probabilities, the added dimension of treatment modification based on patients' preferences, and a compassionate disposition operate as competence-supporting tools in high uncertainty medical situations.
Purtilo
R B
RB
Creighton University Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Omaha, Nebraska 68178.
O'Donohue
W J
WJ
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D026686:Beneficence; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D008297:Male; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010820:Physicians; D035501:Uncertainty; D028761:Withholding Treatment