Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection
Medical ethics are not absolute; they change according to social attitudes, technological advances and alterations in the doctor/patient relationship. The discovery of Helicobacter pylori highlighted entrenched attitudes in academia and the pharmaceutical industry that were not always appropriate. T...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2003-01-01
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| Series: | Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2003/462148 |
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| _version_ | 1850230789080350720 |
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| author | Anthony Axon |
| author_facet | Anthony Axon |
| author_sort | Anthony Axon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Medical ethics are not absolute; they change according to social attitudes,
technological advances and alterations in the doctor/patient
relationship. The discovery of Helicobacter pylori highlighted
entrenched attitudes in academia and the pharmaceutical industry
that were not always appropriate. The explosion of research that followed
was ethically controlled by local research ethics committees
and the system of peer review and editorial responsibility. Now that
effective treatments are available, the control arm in trials of new
therapy should be either placebo (giving the option of effective treatment
later) or a first-line treatment; mono and dual therapy should
not be employed because of the risk of inducing bacterial resistance.
Ethical issues that still remain include whether always to test patients
for H pylori at endoscopy and what information should be given when
they test positive. The most important issue is the approach of the
medical profession to the high death rate carried by H pylori infection.
Peptic ulcer and gastric cancer together account for a large
number of deaths worldwide, and the medical profession and public
health services have not yet grappled with this problem, neither
advocating universal testing and treatment nor funding or research to
determine whether this approach would be effective. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1f9f3977ddb8446f81d4674eef40c5bf |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0835-7900 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2003-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology |
| spelling | doaj-art-1f9f3977ddb8446f81d4674eef40c5bf2025-08-20T02:03:46ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79002003-01-0117Suppl B62B64B10.1155/2003/462148Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori InfectionAnthony Axon0Centre for Digestive Diseases, Department of Gastroenterology, The General Infirmary at Leeds, Leeds, UKMedical ethics are not absolute; they change according to social attitudes, technological advances and alterations in the doctor/patient relationship. The discovery of Helicobacter pylori highlighted entrenched attitudes in academia and the pharmaceutical industry that were not always appropriate. The explosion of research that followed was ethically controlled by local research ethics committees and the system of peer review and editorial responsibility. Now that effective treatments are available, the control arm in trials of new therapy should be either placebo (giving the option of effective treatment later) or a first-line treatment; mono and dual therapy should not be employed because of the risk of inducing bacterial resistance. Ethical issues that still remain include whether always to test patients for H pylori at endoscopy and what information should be given when they test positive. The most important issue is the approach of the medical profession to the high death rate carried by H pylori infection. Peptic ulcer and gastric cancer together account for a large number of deaths worldwide, and the medical profession and public health services have not yet grappled with this problem, neither advocating universal testing and treatment nor funding or research to determine whether this approach would be effective.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2003/462148 |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Axon Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology |
| title | Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection |
| title_full | Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection |
| title_fullStr | Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection |
| title_short | Ethical Issues in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection |
| title_sort | ethical issues in the management of helicobacter pylori infection |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2003/462148 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anthonyaxon ethicalissuesinthemanagementofhelicobacterpyloriinfection |