Abstract

JULIARENA, Alejandra; COSENZA, Sebastián; PRATRES, Pablo  and  PINEDA, Rafael. THE INTENSIVE-CARE PHYSICIAN IN THE FACE OF PATIENT AUTONOMY: AN APPROACH BASED ON SEVERAL CLINICAL CASES. pers.bioét. [online]. 2012, vol.16, n.1, pp.62-66. ISSN 0123-3122.

Three clinical cases are introduced and analyzed in this article to clarifying the scope and limits of the principle of patient autonomy and the physician's responsibility when it comes to making therapeutic decisions regarding patients who are involved in intensive therapy. The conclusion is that informed consent does not relieve the physician of the obligation to discern what is best in each case for each patient. The medical team must respect the patient's autonomy, provided the patient's decision is not unethical.

Keywords : Personal autonomy; informed consent; physician-patient relations; euthanasia; assisted suicide; refusal to treat.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )