The Ethics of Error in Medicine
The practice of medicine forces medical practitioners to make difficult and challenging choices on a daily basis. On the one hand we are obligated to cure with every resource available, while on the other hand we put the patient at risk because our treatments are flawed. To understand the ethics of...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Rambam Health Care Campus
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.rmmj.org.il/issues/47/1066/manuscript |
| _version_ | 1828786720109232128 |
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| author | Shamai A. Grossman Kiersten L. Gurley Richard E. Wolfe |
| author_facet | Shamai A. Grossman Kiersten L. Gurley Richard E. Wolfe |
| author_sort | Shamai A. Grossman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The practice of medicine forces medical practitioners to make difficult and challenging choices on a daily basis. On the one hand we are obligated to cure with every resource available, while on the other hand we put the patient at risk because our treatments are flawed. To understand the ethics of error in medicine, its moral value, and the effects, error must first be defined. However, definition of error remains elusive, and its incidence has been extraordinarily difficult to quantify. Yet, a health care system that acknowledges error as a consequence of normative ethical practice must create systems to minimize error. Error reduction, in turn, should attempt to decrease patient harm and improve the entire health care system. We discuss a number of ethical and moral considerations that arise from practicing medicine despite anticipated error. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:16:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b197a99bd36f420e876423a7a97dae75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-9172 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:16:08Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Rambam Health Care Campus |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-b197a99bd36f420e876423a7a97dae752022-12-22T00:44:50ZengRambam Health Care CampusRambam Maimonides Medical Journal2076-91722020-10-01114e003310.5041/RMMJ.10406The Ethics of Error in MedicineShamai A. Grossman0Kiersten L. Gurley1Richard E. Wolfe2Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USADepartment of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USADepartment of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USAThe practice of medicine forces medical practitioners to make difficult and challenging choices on a daily basis. On the one hand we are obligated to cure with every resource available, while on the other hand we put the patient at risk because our treatments are flawed. To understand the ethics of error in medicine, its moral value, and the effects, error must first be defined. However, definition of error remains elusive, and its incidence has been extraordinarily difficult to quantify. Yet, a health care system that acknowledges error as a consequence of normative ethical practice must create systems to minimize error. Error reduction, in turn, should attempt to decrease patient harm and improve the entire health care system. We discuss a number of ethical and moral considerations that arise from practicing medicine despite anticipated error.https://www.rmmj.org.il/issues/47/1066/manuscriptemergencyerrorethics |
| spellingShingle | Shamai A. Grossman Kiersten L. Gurley Richard E. Wolfe The Ethics of Error in Medicine Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal emergency error ethics |
| title | The Ethics of Error in Medicine |
| title_full | The Ethics of Error in Medicine |
| title_fullStr | The Ethics of Error in Medicine |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ethics of Error in Medicine |
| title_short | The Ethics of Error in Medicine |
| title_sort | ethics of error in medicine |
| topic | emergency error ethics |
| url | https://www.rmmj.org.il/issues/47/1066/manuscript |
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