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A survey asking doctors about how their personal moral views may influence their decisions to not offer or supply certain treatments found that many doctors do allow their personal moral objections to affect the way they treat or refer patients.
Startling Survey Responses
For example, of the doctors surveyed, 29 percent said that if a patient required a treatment they were morally opposed to providing or recommending, they would not even refer the patient to a doctor who would perform or recommend it.
One in seven doctors (14 percent) said they would not even mention a treatment to a patient if they objected to the treatment morally.
That stance in itself is “morally questionable,” said Dr. David Stern, medical ethicist and associate professor of medicine and medical education at the University of Michigan.
No one is saying that doctors should be forced to perform procedures they don't want to, said Stern. But “because we are in a position of power over patients who walk through the door, I think we have a professional responsibility to at least disclose treatments,” said Stern.
Religion and Medical Practice
Doctors were also questioned about the extent to which their religious beliefs played a role in determining which patients would get which treatments. The survey found that highly religious doctors were much less likely to perform, recommend, or even tell patients about treatments that they morally object to.
Dr. Curlin said he found it disturbing that 14 percent of U.S. physicians who are responsible for the care of about 40 million patients may intentionally withhold vital treatment information from sick patients just because they object to the treatments morally.
Curlin believes it is fine for doctors to explain their personal beliefs to patients about certain treatments, but withholding information from patients is just wrong.
“It's the difference between saying, ‘Ms. Smith, there are only these three options for you,' versus saying, ‘Ms. Smith, let me be clear – I think that there are only three good options for you, and I'm not going to give you information on obtaining this other option,” said Curlin. That way the patient could decide to see another doctor.
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