Thomas P. Sartwelle, James C. Johnston, Berna Arda
Electronic
fetal monitoring (EFM) entered clinical medical practice at the same
time bioethics became reality. Bioethics changed the medical ethics
landscape by replacing the traditional Hippocratic benign paternalism
with patient autonomy, informed consent, beneficence, and
nonmaleficence. But EFM use represents the polar opposite of bioethics'
revered principles—it has been documented for half a century to be
completely ineffectual, used without informed consent, and harmful to
mothers and newborns alike. Despite EFM's ethical misuse, there has been
no outcry from the bioethical world. Why?
This article answers that question, discussing EFM's history and the
reasons it was issued an ethics pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment