NDLI: The ethics of practicing defensive medicine in Jordan: a diagnostic study

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Al-Balas, Qosay A. E. Al-Balas, Hassan A. E.
Abstract	Background Defensive medicine (DM) practice refers to the ordering or prescription of unnecessary treatments or tests while avoiding risky procedures for critically ill patients with the aim to alleviate the physician’s legal responsibility and preserve reputation. Although DM practice is recognized, its dimensions are still uncertain. The subject has been highly investigated in developed countries, but unfortunately, many developing countries are unable to investigate it properly. DM has many serious ramifications, exemplified by the increase in treatment costs for patients and health systems, patients’ exposure to risks, and negative effects on the psychological health of both health providers and recipients. Ultimately, the most serious consequence is the ethical consequences. Methods This work is based on a review of the literature related to DM worldwide and a comparison with the available knowledge found in Jordan. It is qualitative with a descriptive nature, aiming to diagnose the current DM practice in Jordan. Results This is the first published article that discusses DM in Jordan by diagnosing its ethical and economic consequences for the health system as well as for patients. Despite the knowledge of the reasons that support its practice, little is being done to solve this issue. The absence of agreeable medical malpractice law, the dearth of unified medical protocols, the overwhelming pressure imposed by patients on medical staff, and the deteriorating patient-physician relationship are some of the causes of DM practice. Surely, the solution to these issues is to focus on fortifying the ethical and humanitarian aspects on the side of both the physician and the patient to ensure positive collaboration. The ethical aim of the physician to treat the patient faithfully and do what is possible to help combined with the appreciation of the physician’s efforts and the choice to not take advantage of the physician through litigation could be the most reasonable solution in the near future. Conclusion Jordan is suffering from DM due to the limited financial expenditure on the health sector and the impracticality of medical malpractice law. The authors highlight that the cardinal step in solving this dilemma is restoring the ethical dimension of the patient-physician relationship.
Related Links	https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12910-021-00658-8.pdf
Ending Page	7
Page Count	7
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14726939
DOI	10.1186/s12910-021-00658-8
Journal	BMC Medical Ethics
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	22
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2021-07-07
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Ethics Philosophy of Medicine Theory of Medicine Bioethics Defensive medicine Litigation Malpractice Medical errors Unethical practice Theory of Medicine/Bioethics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Issues, Ethics and Legal Aspects Health Policy Health (social science)
Journal Impact Factor	3/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.1/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Practice of defensive medicine among surgeons in Ethiopia: cross-sectional study

Physicians' explanatory behaviours and legal liability in decided medical malpractice litigation cases in Japan

Concept of defensive medicine and litigation among Sudanese doctors working in obstetrics and gynecology

Exploring defensive medicine: examples, underlying and contextual factors, and potential strategies - a qualitative study

Moral neutralization: Nurses’ evolution in unethical climate workplaces

Medical Error, Malpractice and Complications: A Moral Geography

The red packet phenomenon from the perspective of young Chinese doctors: a questionnaire study

BMC Medical Ethics

Gender differences in response to medical red packets (Hongbao, monetary gifts): a questionnaire study on young doctors in China

The ethics of practicing defensive medicine in Jordan: a diagnostic study

Similar Documents

Practice of defensive medicine among surgeons in Ethiopia: cross-sectional study

Physicians' explanatory behaviours and legal liability in decided medical malpractice litigation cases in Japan

Concept of defensive medicine and litigation among Sudanese doctors working in obstetrics and gynecology

Exploring defensive medicine: examples, underlying and contextual factors, and potential strategies - a qualitative study

Moral neutralization: Nurses’ evolution in unethical climate workplaces

Medical Error, Malpractice and Complications: A Moral Geography

The red packet phenomenon from the perspective of young Chinese doctors: a questionnaire study

BMC Medical Ethics

Gender differences in response to medical red packets (Hongbao, monetary gifts): a questionnaire study on young doctors in China

The ethics of practicing defensive medicine in Jordan: a diagnostic study