Emotional distance to so-called difficult patients

Do Physicians Have an Ethical Duty to Repair Relationships with So-Called "Difficult" Patients?

This essay argues that physicians hold primary ethical responsibility for repairing damaged patient-physician relationships. The first section establishes that the patient-physician relationship has an important influence on patient health and argues that physicians' duty to treat should be understood as including a responsibility to repair broken relationships, regardless of which party was "r...

Courage and Compassion: Virtues in Caring for So-Called "Difficult" Patients.

What, if anything, can medical ethics offer to assist in the care of the "difficult" patient? We begin with a discussion of virtue theory and its application to medical ethics. We conceptualize the "difficult" patient as an example of a "moral stress test" that especially challenges the physician's character, requiring the good physician to display the virtues of courage and compassion. We then...

Another Question on Kepler’s so Called Distance Law

Lessons about So-Called "Difficult" Patients from the UK Controversy over Patient Access to Electronic Health Records.

Increasing numbers of patients have direct access to their electronic health records (EHRs). Proponents of direct access argue that it empowers patients by making them more informed and offering them more control over their health and care. According to some proponents of patients' access to EHRs, clinicians' concerns about potential negative implications are grounded in a form of paternalism t...

So-called hypertrophic emphysema.

Before discussing the pathogenesis and clinical aspects of this disease, clarification of some of the pertinent terminological definitions may be in order. Hypertrophic emphysema is the most commonly used designation of this disease. Also, it is known under the following names: genuine emphysema, idiopathic emphysema, diffuse vesicular emphysema, obstructive emphysema, dystrophlc emphysema, pul...