Conscientious Objection or an Internal Morality of Medicine?

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-121
Author(s):  
David Hershenov
Keyword(s):  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
First Response ◽  
Internal Morality ◽  
Standard Practices ◽  
Do So

Abstract Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who refuse on grounds of conscience to participate in certain legal, expected, and standard practices have been accused of unprofessionally introducing their personal views into medicine. My first response is that they often are not engaging in conscientious objection because that involves invoking convictions external to those of the medical community. I contend that medicine, properly construed, is pathocentric, and so refusing to induce a pathology via abortion, contraception, euthanasia, etc., is actually being loyal to the internal morality of medicine. My second response is that even if such refusals are best considered conscientious objection, there is still no personal hijacking of medicine. Doctors refusing to induce pathologies need not refuse qua Christian, but can do so qua doctor. A pathocentric account of medicine provides a principled way of distinguishing conscientious objection from religious, idiosyncratic, and bigoted refusals. Patients’ refused pathology-inducing procedures are not medically harmed.

scholarly journals Dynamics of cell transformation in culture and its significance for tumor development in animals

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (46) ◽  
pp. 12237-12242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Cell Transformation ◽  
Calf Serum ◽  
Tumor Development ◽  
Basal Medium ◽  
Saturation Density ◽  
Neoplastic Progression ◽  
First Response ◽  
Ras Oncogenes ◽  
Nih 3T3 ◽  
Do So

NIH 3T3 cells grown in conventional Dulbecco’s modification of Eagle’s basal medium (DME) produce no transformed foci when grown to confluence in 10% calf serum (CS). A few cultures were transformed by ras oncogenes when transfected with DNA from neoplastic cells, but they failed to do so in 80 to 90% of the transfections. However, when they were grown in a medium [molecular, cellular, and developmental biology 402 (MCDB 402)] optimized for their clonal growth in minimal serum, they produced transformed foci without transfection in 10% CS, but not in 2% CS. The first response to growth in MCDB 402 in 2% CS in successive rounds of contact inhibition was uniform increases in saturation density of the population. This was followed by the appearance of transformed foci. A systematic study was made of the dynamics of neoplastic progression in various concentrations of CS in a single round of confluence at 2 and 3 wk, followed by three sequential rounds of confluence in 2% CS for 2 wk. There was a linear relationship between CS concentration and saturation density in the first-round cultures and continuing differences in subsequent cultures. The hyperplastic field of normal-looking cells surrounding transformed foci became increasingly permissive for transformation with serial culture. The dynamics show that epigenetic selection is the major driving force of neoplastic development. Cells from dense foci produced malignant fibrosarcomas in mice, thereby exhibiting a positive relationship between transformation in culture and the development of tumors.

scholarly journals Conscientious Objection and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada: Difficult Questions - Insufficient Answers

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Brindley MD FRCPC, FRPC Edin, FRCP Lond. ◽  
Jeff P. Kerrie MD, MSc (bioethics) MD, FRCPC
Keyword(s):  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Collateral Damage ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Ethical Beliefs ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Refusal To Participate ◽  
Do So

“Conscientious objection” typically implies refusal to participate in an action based on strongly held ethical beliefs. It is historically associated with refusing to fight on the grounds of personal conscience or religion.2 Like other military allusions such as collateral damage or life in the trenches, its usage has spread into wider societal use. Conscientious objection is now used in regards to opposing euthanasia in Canada. Euthanasia, in turn, is now referred to by the less emotive term, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Most medical practitioners and hospitals that object do so in part because of their disagreement or discomfort with the act of killing. As such, the analogy is not wholly unjustified. What is less clear is how this construct, and this terminology, will ultimately affect patients, practitioners, administrators and politicians.

Conscientious Objectors

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-138
Author(s):  
Rebecca Ayako Bennette
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
World War ◽  
Conscientious Objectors ◽  
Overt Form

This chapter explores the interconnections between psychiatric medicalization and the dissent of German soldiers during World War I, and it explains how these men took an explicit and decisive stand against the war by refusing to serve. It discusses the psychiatric observation that determines what illness lay at the heart of the soldiers' allegedly incomprehensible refusal to defend Germany. It also identifies the conscientious objectors during World War I who faced examination by doctors who sometimes dismissed them as mentally ill or incompetent. The chapter describes psychiatrists that expressed cognizance of the limits of their own diagnostic abilities in comparison to the wartime medical community. It reviews the medicalization of conscientious objection, which is considered as the most overt form of dissent that appealed to many of the objectors because of the greater room for maneuver against criminalization.

scholarly journals Defensa de la objeción de conciencia como derecho general = In defense of a general right to conscientious objection

2018 ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Marina Gascón Abellán
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Legal Provision ◽  
Derechos Humanos ◽  
Do So

Resumen: Defiendo en este trabajo que la libertad de conciencia otorga protección a la objeción de conciencia con carácter general, por lo que en principio se puede invocar objeción frente a un deber jurídico sin que sea imprescindible que esta goce de expreso reconocimiento legal. Dicha protección es obviamente prima facie o condicionada, y la protección definitiva dependerá de que se cumplan ciertos requisitos. En la segunda parte examino esos requisitos (relativos fundamentalmente a la seriedad y veracidad de las convicciones y creencias, y a que en todo caso queden tutelados los bienes públicos y los derechos de los demás protegidos por el deber objetado) y finalmente sostengo la conveniencia de regular los tipos de objeción más relevantes.Palabras clave: Libertad de conciencia, libertad de pensamiento, conciencia y religión, objeción de conciencia, derechos humanos, orden público.Abstract: I advocate here the thesis that there is a general right to conscientious objection based on the freedom of conscience, which means it is possible for a person to invoke conscientious objection to avoid performing a legal obligation even though there is no legal provision expressly recognizing to do so. A general right to conscientious objection cannot be interpreted in absolute terms. Conscientious objection in a particular case can only be accepted if certain requirements are met. I also examine those requirements: particularly the need to hold genuine convictions or religious beliefs and protect public order and the rights of others. Finally, I claim it would be convenient to regulate the most relevant forms of conscientious objection, and some suggestions on the matter will be proposed.Keywords: Freedom of conscience, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, conscientious objection, human rights, public order.

Holding replication studies to mainstream standards of evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane T. Wegener ◽  
Leandre R. Fabrigar
Keyword(s):  
Replication Studies ◽  
Replication Research ◽  
Standards Of Evidence ◽  
Do So

AbstractReplications can make theoretical contributions, but are unlikely to do so if their findings are open to multiple interpretations (especially violations of psychometric invariance). Thus, just as studies demonstrating novel effects are often expected to empirically evaluate competing explanations, replications should be held to similar standards. Unfortunately, this is rarely done, thereby undermining the value of replication research.

Electron Microscopy of a Herpesvirus Isolated from Marek's Disease in Duck and Chicken Embryo Fibroblast Cultures

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 222-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyvan Nazerian
Keyword(s):  
Inclusion Bodies ◽  
Chicken Embryo Fibroblast ◽  
Marek's Disease ◽  
Marek’S Disease ◽  
Duck Embryo Fibroblast ◽  
Multinucleated Cells ◽  
Viral Particles ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
And Control ◽  
Do So

A herpes-like virus has been isolated from duck embryo fibroblast (DEF) cultures inoculated with blood from Marek's disease (MD) infected birds. Cultures which contained this virus produced MD in susceptible chickens while virus negative cultures and control cultures failed to do so. This and other circumstantial evidence including similarities in properties of the virus and the MD agent implicate this virus in the etiology of MD.Histochemical studies demonstrated the presence of DNA-staining intranuclear inclusion bodies in polykarocytes in infected cultures. Distinct nucleo-plasmic aggregates were also seen in sections of similar multinucleated cells examined with the electron microscope. These aggregates are probably the same as the inclusion bodies seen with the light microscope. Naked viral particles were observed in the nucleus of infected cells within or on the edges of the nucleoplasmic aggregates. These particles measured 95-100mμ, in diameter and rarely escaped into the cytoplasm or nuclear vesicles by budding through the nuclear membrane (Fig. 1). The enveloped particles (Fig. 2) formed in this manner measured 150-170mμ in diameter and always had a densely stained nucleoid. The virus in supernatant fluids consisted of naked capsids with 162 hollow, cylindrical capsomeres (Fig. 3). Enveloped particles were not seen in such preparations.

Debates in Dysphagia Management: How Do You Use Evidence-Based Practice in Your Dysphagia Patient Care?

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-123
Author(s):  
Jeri A. Logemann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Clinical Judgment ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Evidence Based Practice ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Clinical Method ◽  
Do So

Evidence-based practice requires astute clinicians to blend our best clinical judgment with the best available external evidence and the patient's own values and expectations. Sometimes, we value one more than another during clinical decision-making, though it is never wise to do so, and sometimes other factors that we are unaware of produce unanticipated clinical outcomes. Sometimes, we feel very strongly about one clinical method or another, and hopefully that belief is founded in evidence. Some beliefs, however, are not founded in evidence. The sound use of evidence is the best way to navigate the debates within our field of practice.

The Persnickety Pervasiveness of Rating Enhancement in Personality Assessment

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Alicia A. Stachowski ◽  
John T. Kulas
Keyword(s):  
Response Bias ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Psychological Measurement ◽  
Shared Sets ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Original Target ◽  
Target Profile ◽  
Do So ◽  
Normative Influences

Abstract. The current paper explores whether self and observer reports of personality are properly viewed through a contrasting lens (as opposed to a more consonant framework). Specifically, we challenge the assumption that self-reports are more susceptible to certain forms of response bias than are informant reports. We do so by examining whether selves and observers are similarly or differently drawn to socially desirable and/or normative influences in personality assessment. Targets rated their own personalities and recommended another person to also do so along shared sets of items diversely contaminated with socially desirable content. The recommended informant then invited a third individual to additionally make ratings of the original target. Profile correlations, analysis of variances (ANOVAs), and simple patterns of agreement/disagreement consistently converged on a strong normative effect paralleling item desirability, with all three rater types exhibiting a tendency to reject socially undesirable descriptors while also endorsing desirable indicators. These tendencies were, in fact, more prominent for informants than they were for self-raters. In their entirety, our results provide a note of caution regarding the strategy of using non-self informants as a comforting comparative benchmark within psychological measurement applications.

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