Cataract surgery in the patient with dementia: justified paternalism?
Paternalistic decision making for the incompetent patient involves many ethical and legal issues. In the ophthalmic surgery setting, cataract surgery on the patient with dementia is a potentially harmful act that requires justification on the part of the delegated decision maker. Does the potential outcome of improved vision outweigh the patient's right to self-determination? This discussion covers some of the moral, legal, and ethical issues to be considered in analyzing this dilemma.
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D000368:Aged; D026686:Beneficence; D002386:Cataract / Q000150:complications*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000451:nursing; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications*; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D016743:Mental Competency; D026706:Paternalism; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D018570:Risk Assessment