The relationship between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry is a difficult one. There is ambiguity from both the point of the physician and the industry, and interpretation of the guidelines in the CMA’s Code of Ethics is sometimes controversial. While physicians have responsibilities to both their patients and their profession, the primary duty is to ensure the health of patients and society. The pharmaceutical industry exists to help us achieve that goal.
Virtually every significant health care decision has an ethical component. Partly in recognition of this, and partly because accreditation requires it, most health care institutions in BC have access to ethics resources. These can come in the form of a regional ethics committee, an ethics committee attached to the institution, or ethics consultants. All typically provide ethics education, write guidelines, and offer a consultation service.
Autonomy is the right to choose, not an unfettered right to demand. However, where there is a duty to treat by the physician, there is a right by the patient to choose to be treated and an expectation in law and in ethics that it will be given. A terminal illness in itself does not affect autonomy or the right to choose. The patient at the end of life has no fewer rights than a healthy person.
