Nigel Palmer

Conflicts of interest in divisions of general practice

Community-based healthcare organisations manage competing, and often conflicting, priorities. These conflicts can arise from the multiple roles these organisations take up, and from the diverse range of stakeholders to whom they must be responsive. Often such conflicts may be titled conflicts of interest; however, what precisely constitutes such conflicts and what should be done about them is not always clear. Clarity about the duties owed by organisations and the roles they assume can help identify and manage some of these conflicts. Taking divisions of general practice in Australia as an example, this paper sets out to distinguish two main types of conflicts of interest, so that they may be more clearly identified and more effectively managed.

Health technology assessment: ethical, legal and social issues

This article explores the place of ethical analysis of technologies in public health. We begin with a brief account of the term ‘technology,’ followed by a summary of the variety of meanings ascribed to ‘ethics’ as it relates to new technologies. To illustrate the place of ethics and technology in public health, we then focus on how this variety of meanings is displayed in the range of views about the relationship between ethics and health technology assessment.

Technology, Ethics of: Overview

This article explores the domain of ethical analysis of technologies. It begins with a brief account of the term ‘technology,’ followed by a summary of the ways in which ‘ethics’ is interpreted as it relates to new technologies. It then discusses two key themes in the ethics technology – risk and responsibility – before concluding with a discussion of one particularly challenging set of technological developments that raises ethical issues that cut across many areas of human endeavor.

Whistle-blowing in the medical curriculum: A response to Faunce

AbstractWe agree with Faunce’s proposal that academic legitimacy is important in ensuring that whistle-blowing is included in medical curricula. We disagree, however, with the assertion that this is best achieved by means of an over-arching theoretical foundation for health care whistle-blowing of the kind suggested by Faunce. We propose that systematic theoretical justification is neither the sole nor the main determinant of academic legitimacy when it comes to matters for inclusion in medical school curricula, and outline an alternative view, together with a practical example of a healthcare whistle-blowing topic.