This morning I was asked by Dr NR Datta, head of the Radiation Oncology department of our hospital to talk on Ethical Challenges in Cancer management. I addressed the following issues in my Powerpoint Presentation. The audience- faculty, resident, technicians, nurses, and social workers- also shared the challenges that they see in their daily practice.
- What is right and what is wrong?
- What are our obligations to provide therapy to a patient if he cannot afford the treatment?
- Decisions to distribute resources will always be moral decisions, informed by concepts of justice.
- Are we bound by an oath to act in the patient’s best interest?
- Must we provide beneficial therapies that have been shown to significantly prolong overall survival?
- Generally, physicians are uncomfortable with engaging in such allocation decisions at the bedside.
- Physicians and patients may differ on the cost-effectiveness of the therapies.
- What are the risks, benefits, and costs of the therapy in question?
- What are patient’s goals of treatment and his views of cost-effectiveness, given that his own personal finances may be at risk.
- We feel that we are bound by an oath to act in the patient’s best interest.
- We feel that we must provide beneficial therapies that have been shown to significantly prolong overall survival.
- Who am I answerable to? The patient or the society?
- What are the benefits of telling the patient his prognosis?
- What are the harms of telling the patient his prognosis?
- Are the resources already in place?
- What is the patient’s informed and competent opinion?
- Some patients don’t want to know their prognosis or expect to beat the odds.
Here is a link to the PowerPoint presentation on my YouTube channel:
