Ethical responsibilities of medical personnel during war

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Victor W. Sidel, MD, Professor of Social Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical College, Montifiore Medical Center, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, New York, NY 10467, 718-920-6586, vsidel@igc.org

The ethical responsibilities of medical personnel during war can be illustrated with the following five ethical dilemmas in the role of “physician-soldier”: subordinating the best interests of the patient, overriding patients' wishes, failing to provide care, blurring combatant and noncombatant roles, and preventing physicians from acting as moral agents within the military. Two approaches for enhancing physicians' abilities to serve as moral agents are restructuring medical service in the military and selecting alternatives to military service. This presentation will discuss these issues in a broader context of the ethical responsibilities of medical personnel during war and its aftermath.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to

Describe the major ethical responsibilities of medical personnel during war.
Describe examples of how these responsibilities have not been upheld during recent armed conflicts.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation

Human Rights and War

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA