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Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent

Many drugs used in medical therapeutics are able to save human lives. Unfortunately, many such drugs have also led to the death of patients. This fact raises important issues discussed in light of a number of cases taken from cardiovascular therapeutics. Medical therapeutics currently includes a vas...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Nunes, José Pedro L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6726291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31595262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000035
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author_facet Nunes, José Pedro L.
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description Many drugs used in medical therapeutics are able to save human lives. Unfortunately, many such drugs have also led to the death of patients. This fact raises important issues discussed in light of a number of cases taken from cardiovascular therapeutics. Medical therapeutics currently includes a vast number of different types of interventions, including drugs, devices, surgery, and diets. In what regards drugs, we currently use molecules with profound influences on the human body—some of which leading occasionally to negative outcomes or even to patient death. A reasonable degree of statistical certainty goes along with a large degree of individual uncertainty—a phenomenon is seen in a group of patients but a quite different phenomenon may be seen in a particular case. When treating an individual patient, it is his/her interest and personal preferences that must be taken into consideration, not the interests of society or of science. The choice of medical therapy with a definite intrinsic mortality risk must imply strict accordance from the part of the patient. Since many therapeutic modalities do carry a definite mortality risk, an overall change in medical practice is necessary. Informed consent should be the rule, and should be the starting point for medical therapeutics.
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spelling pubmed-67262912019-10-08 Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent Nunes, José Pedro L. Porto Biomed J Rostrum Article Many drugs used in medical therapeutics are able to save human lives. Unfortunately, many such drugs have also led to the death of patients. This fact raises important issues discussed in light of a number of cases taken from cardiovascular therapeutics. Medical therapeutics currently includes a vast number of different types of interventions, including drugs, devices, surgery, and diets. In what regards drugs, we currently use molecules with profound influences on the human body—some of which leading occasionally to negative outcomes or even to patient death. A reasonable degree of statistical certainty goes along with a large degree of individual uncertainty—a phenomenon is seen in a group of patients but a quite different phenomenon may be seen in a particular case. When treating an individual patient, it is his/her interest and personal preferences that must be taken into consideration, not the interests of society or of science. The choice of medical therapy with a definite intrinsic mortality risk must imply strict accordance from the part of the patient. Since many therapeutic modalities do carry a definite mortality risk, an overall change in medical practice is necessary. Informed consent should be the rule, and should be the starting point for medical therapeutics. 2019-02-02 /pmc/articles/PMC6726291/ /pubmed/31595262 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000035 Text en Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of PBJ-Associação Porto Biomedical/Porto Biomedical Society. All rights reserved. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
spellingShingle Rostrum Article
Nunes, José Pedro L.
Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title_full Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title_fullStr Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title_full_unstemmed Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title_short Medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
title_sort medical therapeutics: mortality effects, uncertainty, and informed consent
topic Rostrum Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6726291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31595262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000035
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