Nonabandonment: An Old Obligation Revisited
Authors: Edmund D. Pellegrino
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1995)

Editorials1 March 1995Nonabandonment: An Old Obligation RevisitedEdmund D. Pellegrino, MDEdmund D. Pellegrino, MDGeorgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-122-5-199503010-00010 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In medical ethics, the term “abandonment” has customarily meant unilateral withdrawal by a physician from a patient's care without first formally transferring that care to another qualified physician who is acceptable to the patient. Abandonment means leaving the patient without care. As such, abandonment has been universally condemned as a serious and punishable infraction of both the legal and ethical obligations that physicians owe patients. Its converse, nonabandonment, is therefore a fundamental ethical obligation of physicians once patient and physician mutually consent to enter into a relationship.In this issue, Quill and Cassel [1] propose to alter this traditional interpretation ...References1. Quill TE, Cassel CK. Nonabandonment: a central obligation for physicians. Ann Intern Med. 1995; 121:368-74. Google Scholar2. Chauncey L, ed. Percival's Medical Ethics. Huntington, New York: Robert P. Krieger; 1975: 98. Google Scholar3. Article I, Section V of The Code of Ethics of the American Medical Association. Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins; 1848. Google Scholar4. Chapter 1, Section 7 of The Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical Association; 1911. Google Scholar5. Pellegrino ED, Thomasma DC. For the Patient's Good: The Restoration of Beneficence in Health Care. New York: Oxford University Press; 1987. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057Corresponding Author: Document Services, National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited by“Agradecería activar PADES”Speaking with Frankenstein‘Your country needs you’: the ethics of allocating staff to high-risk clinical roles in the management of patients with COVID-19Virtue ethics and the commitment to learn: overcoming disparities faced by transgender individualsEthics and the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide: An American College of Physicians Position PaperLois Snyder Sulmasy, JD and Paul S. Mueller, MD, MPH, for the Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee of the American College of Physicians*Dismissing Patients for Health-Based Reasons"Seelischer Beistand" als System existenzieller Kommunikation - Herausforderung und Chance für diakonische UnternehmenPartiality Based on Relational Responsibilities: Another Approach to Global EthicsPrimary Care Physicians’ Decisions About Discharging Patients from Their PracticesTermination: Ethical and Legal ImplicationsCaregiving at the End of Life: Perceptions of Health Care Quality and Quality of Life Among Patients and CaregiversFutility: Revisiting a Concept of Shared Moral: JudgmentPalliative Care Services, Patient Abandonment, and the Scope of Physicians' Responsibilities in End-of-Life CareClinical Interventional Radiology: Serving the PatientEthical Challenges in End-of-Life Therapies in the ElderlyPhysician-Assisted SuicideLois Snyder, JD and Daniel P. Sulmasy, OFM, MD, PhD, for the Ethics and Human Rights Committee, American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine*El deber de no abandonar al pacienteEthical Issues of Behavioral Interventions for HIV Prevention6 Specialist management: needs and benefitsPHYSICIANS, ETHICS, ADVANCE DIRECTIVES, AND LONG-TERM CAREDecisions and care at the end of life 1 March 1995Volume 122, Issue 5Page: 377-378KeywordsBehaviorDecision theoryEuthanasiaLong-term careMedical ethicsNutritionPatient advocacyPatientsScientistsSuicide Issue Published: 1 March 1995 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1995 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...