title: Patient refusal of treatment in obstetrics.
abstract: During the later half of the previous century, Clinical Ethics evolved from the iconoclastic and murky realm of philosophical dissertation into a practical and useful discipline to be applied to clinical dilemmas occurring in everyday practice. We have explored a brief exposition of prevailing ethical theories that are most commonly recognized. These include Consequentialism and Principlism, and we have applied them to actual cases as they might occur in clinical practice. It is our hope that this will help us all to facilitate decisions with which we will be comfortable and which will be compatible with the beliefs and values of our patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0712, USA.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Finnerty
authors.forename: Christian A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Chisholm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section; D028663:Ethical Theory; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D005260:Female; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000601:surgery; D005865:Gestational Age; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D015160:Hydrops Fetalis / Q000209:etiology; D033221:Jehovah's Witnesses; D009774:Obstetrics; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic; D012203:Rh Isoimmunization / Q000150:complications; D013727:Terminal Care; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000941:ethics*