This short story raises ethical issues about a woman’s request for medical assistance to get pregnant. In this fictional account, a 34-year-old woman has been trying to get pregnant for the last year. Her husband would like to keep trying for one more year, but the woman loses patience. She visits an ob-gyn and requests artificial insemination. She does not intend to tell her husband about this medical assistance. The doctor has helped single women, lesbian couples, and married couples with (...) pregnancies, but he feels conflicted by this request. The doctor and the woman discuss their concerns and plans. Then they decide on a course of action. In a creative way, this story aims to bring to life ethical issues about assisted reproduction, complex relationships, individual choice, non- judgmental attitudes, deception, confidentiality, genetic connections, and social parents. But this story is not a textbook case that illustrates a clearly defined ethical issue. On the contrary, the story shows that some common ethical ideas don’t quite fit the characters’ experiences and the readers’ reactions. (shrink)

In his book: Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine: The United States, France and Japan, Mark A. Rodwin discusses the conflicts of interest of physicians by comparing the healthcare systems of these three countries. His insightful analysis allows him to propose possible solutions applicable to major COI situations encountered in medical practice.

Bioethics services vary within and across many jurisdictions. This case study describes such inconsistencies in Canada, and notes challenges and opportunities related to this variance.

In health care, professionals may find themselves at risk of abusing their powers by neglecting the interests of their clients. In particular, a conflict of interest can arise when the practitioner focuses on a secondary interest, such as his own financial gain, at the expense of a primary interest or professional responsibility, such as the interest of the patient. This case study, inspired by a true story in veterinary medicine, illustrates the ethical problem by which high-tech interventions are used in (...) practice, even if their use is not necessarily in the client’s best interest. (shrink)