Risk and Medical Ethics

Abstract

Quantitative risk-benefit analysis is difficult to do for medical procedures in general, and even more difficult to apply in the case of a particular patient. Yet, the author maintains, it is ethically problematic to propose or use a procedure without some such assessment. Patients weigh risks and benefits differently from physicians. Objective methods of quantitative evaluation of risk and benefit should be developed and the results offered to the patient as an essential component of decision making. (KIE abstract)