Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Santosuosso.
In our societies everybody has a right to decide in order to treatments on her/his own body, according to her/his ideas, sensibility and wills. Physicians cannot answer to the patient's world only in terms of scientific rationality. The future challenge is to find the way to improve, at the same time, the scientific standard of medical treatments and the response to single patient's needs.
Voluntary service has experienced a considerable expansion and a substantial change over the last two decades. The role of the volunteer has gradually come to interact with activities undertaken by other professionals, but without interfering. Since the role of the volunteer naturally involves autonomy and discretion on his/her behalf, the associations concerned increasingly feel the need to refer to standards defining a voluntary service ethic. Within a refresher course with a set number of places for non-profit-making organisations, which was arranged by the Italian League against Cancer, Milan, a consensus conference for the ratification of a code of conduct on voluntary service was held. The aim was to reach a consensus together with others who work in an "organised" manner every day, on ethical concepts that should inspire voluntary service: the common good, mutual respect, freedom of choice, a non-profit-oriented vision. After exhaustive discussions by three panels, the text of a code of conduct unanimously approved was elaborated. All concerned with this code tried to avoid giving it a "sanitary" imprint. It is in fact our opinion that whatever the area covered by voluntary service, its aim and its final objective is to ensure the wellbeing of mankind and his environment.
BACKGROUND: The problems related to requests for euthanasia by terminal patients; the variations in attitude of palliative care physicians and the possibility that availability of the best palliative care might obviate the problem by eliminating requests for euthanasia, are under discussion. DESIGN: A mailed survey with no possibility of follow-up of all 685 physician members of the Italian Society for Palliative Care (SICP) in 1994. RESULTS: Of the 359 (52.4%) responders, 139 (39%) had received requests for euthanasia; 16 of them (4% of the responders but 11.5% of those who received requests) had complied at least once, while 216 (60%) had not; 125 (35%) thought that euthanasia was 'wrong' under all circumstances; 115 (32%) thought that situations could occur, even in the context of palliative care, in which euthanasia might be ethically 'correct'; 185 (52%) thought that the best palliative care might solve the problem of euthanasia, while 109 (30%) believed otherwise. The variable most strongly associated with a negative attitude toward euthanasia and with the opinion that the best palliative care might be a solution to the problem is religious belief (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The attitudes of physicians practising palliative care in Italy are not different from those reported by previous studies which investigated the attitude of other health professionals. There was no agreement about whether the best palliative care might reduce requests for euthanasia by terminal patients.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.