Ethical decision making in pain management: a conceptual framework.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The practice and study of pain management pose myriad ethical challenges. There is a consensual opinion that adequate management of pain is a medical obligation rooted in classical Greek practice. However, there is evidence that patients often suffer from uncontrolled and unnecessary pain. This is inconsistent with the leges artis, and its practical implications merit a bioethical analysis. Several factors have been identified as causes of uncontrolled and unnecessary pain, which deprive patients from receiving appropriate treatments that theoretically they have the right to access. Important factors include (with considerable regional, financial, and cultural differences) the following: 1) failure to identify pain as a priority in patient care; 2) failure to establish

SUBMITTER: Carvalho AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5962306 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature