Medical Harm
Historical, Conceptual and Ethical Dimensions of Iatrogenic Illness

A broad interdisciplinary analysis of the phenomenon of medically-induced illness and injury.

Virginia Ashby Sharpe (Author), Alan I. Faden (Author)

9780521634908, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 February 1998

296 pages, 8 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.419 kg

'… a useful exploration of the historical and ethical basis of medical harm …' The Lancet

It is estimated that up to thirteen percent of hospital admissions result from the adverse effects of diagnosis or treatment, and that almost seventy percent of iatrogenic complications are preventable. The obligation to 'do no harm' has been central to medical conduct since ancient times, yet iatrogenic illness has now come to be recognized as a significant risk factor in health care delivery. This book integrates history, philosophy, medical ethics and empirical data to examine the concept and phenomenon of medical harm. Issues covered include appropriateness of care, acceptable risk and practitioner accountability, and the book concludes with recommendations for limiting iatrogenic harm. Essential reading for medical ethicists, physicians and those involved in health care policy and administration, this stimulating and highly readable book will be of interest to all providers of health care, and many of their patients.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: 1. Divided loyalties: harm to the profession vs. harm to the patient
2. Medical epistemology, medical authority and shifting interpretations of beneficence and non-maleficence
3. Medical harms and patients' rights: the democratization of medical morality
Part II: 4. The moral basis of medicine: why 'do no harm'?
5. Due care as a specification of the duty to 'do no harm'
6.Conceptual and ethical dimensions of medical harm
Part III: 7. From hospitalism to nosocomial infection control
8. Adverse effects of drug treatment
9. Unnecessary surgery
10. The concept of appropriateness in patient care
11. Recommendations for limiting iatrogenic harm
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Medical ethics & professional conduct [MBDC]