title: The distressed patient seeking self-harm: autonomy versus beneficence.
abstract: Patient autonomy may conflict with the professional's need to practice beneficently. A case is presented showing this conflict. This incompatibility between two cardinal virtues in healthcare ethics is analyzed in terms of the philosopher Immanuel Kant's dictum that individual autonomy cannot be abridged. The tension between these two ethical principles is also discussed in terms of the 2008 voter initiative in the State of Washington allowing physician-assisted suicide.
authors: University of Texas at San Antonio Dental School, USA. hoylej@lsd43.navy.mil
authors: Jeffrey
authors: J
authors: Hoyle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D026686:Beneficence; D003815:Dentists / Q000941:ethics*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D028701:Patient Rights; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000941:ethics; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000941:ethics; D014098:Toothache / Q000628:therapy; D014861:Washington