Abstract
Savulescu has recently introduced the "rational non-interventional paternalist" model of the patient-doctor relationship. This paper addresses objections to such a model from the perspective of an anaesthetist. Patients need to make their own decisions if they are to be fully autonomous. Rational non-interventional paternalism undermines the importance of patient choice and so threatens autonomy. Doctors should provide an evaluative judgment of the best medical course of action, but ought to restrict themselves to helping patients to make their own choices rather than making such choices for them.
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Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Savulescu J. Rational non-interventional paternalism: why doctors ought to make judgments of what is best for their patients. J Med Ethics. 1995 Dec;21(6):327–331. doi: 10.1136/jme.21.6.327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]