Physician perspectives on the ethical aspects of disability determination

Abstract

Physicians perceive an ethical bind as they try to satisfy the conflicting demands of patients and the welfare disability system. They will frequently decide in favor of their patient's interests. This has implications for welfare policy planners.

Who’s in charge? Challenges in evaluating quality of primary care treatment for low back pain

“…It is possible that managing patients in this manner is easier for health care providers with an established relationship with the patient, which at least theoretically should be the case for the PCP, ensuring greater effectiveness in directing patients to resume normal activities. Alternatively, PCPs may avoid potential conflicts about health care or return to work, preferring to acquiesce to patients’ demands [24].…”

The Physician as Disability Advisor for Back Pain Patients

“…Another possible source of variation in disability recommendations may be inadequate medical education or poor preparation of physicians for determining disability (Sullivan and Loeser 1992 ). Indeed, a majority of surveyed physicians indicated that they have learned little about disability programmes from any source (Carey et al 1987 ), do not feel confident in their ability to determine patient disability (Zinn and Furutani 1996 ), and felt burdened by participation in this task (Zinn and Furutani 1996 ). Furthermore, many physicians feel inadequately educated about work capabilities and risk for injury from occupation exposures .…”

Bioethics in a clinic for women with psychosis

“…When surveyed, many doctors admit frequently acting preferentially on behalf of the interests of individual patients 8 9. This suggests a good measure of empathy with patients on the part of physicians, a physician characteristic that has been linked to positive clinical outcomes 10…”