RT Book, Section
A1 Richeimer, Steven H.
A1 Weinstein, Faye M.
A1 Victor, Lisa
A2 Bajwa, Zahid H.
A2 Wootton, R. Joshua
A2 Warfield, Carol A.
SR Print(0)
ID 1131939957
T1 Ethical Issues and Problems of Physician Trust in the Chronic Pain Patient
T2 Principles and Practice of Pain Medicine, 3e
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071766838
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1131939957
RD 2024/04/23
AB The  focus  of  the  ethics  literature  regarding  pain  management  has  shifted  from  issues  related  to  the  treatment  of  patients  experiencing  terminal  pain  to  the  concept  of  pain  management  as  a  human  right1  for  patients  with  nonmalignant  pain.  International,  federal,  and  state  initiatives;  new  guidelines  and  standards;  and  numerous  studies  that  document  the  high  costs  of  chronic  pain  have  fueled  this  attention  to  untreated  or  undertreated  pain  in  nonterminal  patients.  Thus,  the  new  ethical  pressure  to  provide  pain  medication  to  patients  with  nonmalignant  pain  may  be  experienced  by  physicians  as  putting  them  in  legal  jeopardy.  This  is  complicated  further  by  Hall  and  Boswell's1  assertion  that  there  is  no  clear  legal  or  ethical  basis  for  pain  management  as  a  right;  others  conclude  that  failure  to  treat  pain  is  a  breach  of  human  rights.2  Hellman3  examines  whether  trusting  patients  even  constitutes  a  legitimate  and  accepted  medical  practice,  although  she  provides  a  compelling  argument  that  doctors  can  be  morally  justified  in  trusting  patients’  reports  of  pain.