Universität zu Köln

Witt, Karsten, Stumpel, Johanne and Woopen, Christiane (2017). Caregiver burden and the medical ethos. Med. Health Care Philos., 20 (3). S. 383 - 392. DORDRECHT: SPRINGER. ISSN 1572-8633

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Abstract

Are physicians sometimes morally required to ease caregiver burden? In our paper we defend an affirmative answer to this question. First, we examine the well-established principle that medical care should be centered on the patient. We argue that although this principle seems to give physicians some leeway to lessen caregivers' suffering, it is very restrictive when spelled out precisely. Based on a critical analysis of existing cases for transcending patient-centeredness we then go on to argue that the medical ethos should indeed contain a rule requiring physicians to alleviate caregiver burden under certain circumstances. Finally, we apply our findings to deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease. We present empirical data from a recent study of DBS indicating that spousal caregivers of Parkinson patients treated with DBS are sometimes deeply troubled by the effects of the therapy and discuss what moral obligations the treating physicians may have in such cases.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Witt, Karsten UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Stumpel, Johanne UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Woopen, Christiane UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-220413
DOI:	10.1007/s11019-017-9757-2
Journal or Publication Title:	Med. Health Care Philos.
Volume:	20
Number:	3
Page Range:	S. 383 - 392
Date:	2017
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	DORDRECHT
ISSN:	1572-8633
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language DEEP-BRAIN-STIMULATION; PARKINSONS-DISEASE; FAMILY; NEUROSURGERY; AUTONOMY; ETHICS Multiple languages Ethics; History & Philosophy Of Science Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/22041