Ron Berghmans - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ron Berghmans
Abstracts in Anthropology, 1995
Psychiatric Services, 1999
Bioethics Yearbook, 1992
Policies express a country’s mind and arise from structures that may be particular to a given cou... more Policies express a country’s mind and arise from structures that may be particular to a given country. We think that summaries and reports on major legislation, court rulings, regulatory changes, and policy announcements by the Dutch government and professional associations in the Netherlands will be better understood and appreciated if one also understands how the system develops its health policy. Therefore, this introduction outlines the major institutions that contribute to the preparation of health care policy. Study groups and councils, health care professionals, and patient organizations play roles in Dutch policy making. The actual implementation of the policy itself then becomes the prime responsibility of politicians and government.
Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, Apr 1, 1999
Some of the views of the Royal Dutch Medical Association on end-of-life decisions in cases of peo... more Some of the views of the Royal Dutch Medical Association on end-of-life decisions in cases of people suffering from Alzheimer disease and related disorders are presented. The focus of the present report is on the views of the commission regarding active life termination of demented patients with or without an actual and explicit request from the patient. Some comments on these views are made, particularly regarding the notion of "loss of human dignity" (ontluistering) with respect to dementia.
Journal of Medical Ethics, 2007
The American Journal of Bioethics, Aug 1, 2011
The authors argue for two basic elements-intentionality and the absence of controlling influenceo... more The authors argue for two basic elements-intentionality and the absence of controlling influenceof voluntary consent, and claim that the notion of authenticity is unnecessary. However, I want to propose a distinction between 'being free' and 'feeling free', the former referring to objectifiable aspects of the situation, and the latter expressing the subjective experience of freedom by the individual. On the basis of this I will argue firstly that voluntary consent is an inherently normative concept, and secondly that we cannot omit some version of the notion of authenticity, in particular one which takes into account the individual actor's present identity, affective state, wishes, and moral values.
Psychiatric Services
Letters from readers are welcomed. They will be published at the discretion of the editor as spac... more Letters from readers are welcomed. They will be published at the discretion of the editor as space permits and will be subject to editing. They should be a maximum of 500 words with no more than five references and should
Assessing the Dutch Experience, 2012
Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde
![Research paper thumbnail of [Terminal sedation in mentally competent patients: no overriding medical-ethical arguments against in the medical literature]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/53029272/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, Jan 13, 2003
To collect medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation in mentall... more To collect medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation in mentally-competent patients. Literature search. Medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation were sought in electronic databases, for example Pubmed, Medline, and the Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services. The arguments found can help in making a well-considered and careful decision. Terminal sedation can be defined as deliberately inducing and maintaining deep sleep in terminally-ill patients with recalcitrant symptoms, by using high doses of sedatives but without the intention of hastening death. Arguments in favour of this approach included: good care provision, useful medical procedure, autonomy of the patient, the doctrine of the double effect and an alternative for euthanasia and assisted suicide. Arguments against included: impossible to communicate due to sedation, responsibility for unintended consequences, shortening the length of lif...
Health Care Analysis, 2004
Respecting patient autonomy is an important value in (mental) health care. In many jurisdictions,... more Respecting patient autonomy is an important value in (mental) health care. In many jurisdictions, this value is translated into the concept of informed consent, which implies that before treatment or research can take place, the patient or research subject should give consent ...
Developing World Bioethics
The issue of benefits in international clinical research is highly controversial. Against the bac... more The issue of benefits in international clinical research is highly controversial. Against the background of wide recognition of the need to share benefits of research, the nature of benefits remains strongly contested. Little is known about the perspectives of research populations on this issue and the extent to which research ethics discourses and guidelines are salient to the expectations and aspirations existing on the ground. This exploratory study contributes to filling this void by examining perspectives of people in low-income South African communities on benefits in international clinical research. Twenty-four individuals with and without experience of being involved in clinical research participated in in-depth interviews. Respondents felt that ancillary care should be provided to clinical research participants, while a clinical study conducted in particular community should bring better health to its members through post-trial benefits. Respondents' perspectives were g...
Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie
Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie
The development and use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise ethical issues. Ethical issues c... more The development and use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise ethical issues. Ethical issues concern the consequences of an early diagnosis, the creation of unreasonable hope, possible negative effects of rivastigmine use, problems concerning stopping with rivastigmine, the patient role in decision-making and the possibility of conflicting interests. Within the ethical literature, hypotheses about the meaning of this drug for the patients have been formulated. This research aimed to investigate the experiences of caregivers of patients who used rivastigmine. The data have been collected by semi-structured interviews. The study included 12 caregivers of rivastigmine users. The--preliminary--results seem to indicate that theoretical considerations should be modified in the light of the experiences of caregivers. For example, problematic consequences of an early diagnosis and the creation of unreasonable hope did not appear in this study. Also problems concerning the rising awareness of cognitive decline were not found. In the interest of a further ethical debate concerning the development and use of antidementia drugs it is important to modify these theoretical considerations.
Abstracts in Anthropology, 1995
Psychiatric Services, 1999
Bioethics Yearbook, 1992
Policies express a country’s mind and arise from structures that may be particular to a given cou... more Policies express a country’s mind and arise from structures that may be particular to a given country. We think that summaries and reports on major legislation, court rulings, regulatory changes, and policy announcements by the Dutch government and professional associations in the Netherlands will be better understood and appreciated if one also understands how the system develops its health policy. Therefore, this introduction outlines the major institutions that contribute to the preparation of health care policy. Study groups and councils, health care professionals, and patient organizations play roles in Dutch policy making. The actual implementation of the policy itself then becomes the prime responsibility of politicians and government.
Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, Apr 1, 1999
Some of the views of the Royal Dutch Medical Association on end-of-life decisions in cases of peo... more Some of the views of the Royal Dutch Medical Association on end-of-life decisions in cases of people suffering from Alzheimer disease and related disorders are presented. The focus of the present report is on the views of the commission regarding active life termination of demented patients with or without an actual and explicit request from the patient. Some comments on these views are made, particularly regarding the notion of "loss of human dignity" (ontluistering) with respect to dementia.
Journal of Medical Ethics, 2007
The American Journal of Bioethics, Aug 1, 2011
The authors argue for two basic elements-intentionality and the absence of controlling influenceo... more The authors argue for two basic elements-intentionality and the absence of controlling influenceof voluntary consent, and claim that the notion of authenticity is unnecessary. However, I want to propose a distinction between 'being free' and 'feeling free', the former referring to objectifiable aspects of the situation, and the latter expressing the subjective experience of freedom by the individual. On the basis of this I will argue firstly that voluntary consent is an inherently normative concept, and secondly that we cannot omit some version of the notion of authenticity, in particular one which takes into account the individual actor's present identity, affective state, wishes, and moral values.
Psychiatric Services
Letters from readers are welcomed. They will be published at the discretion of the editor as spac... more Letters from readers are welcomed. They will be published at the discretion of the editor as space permits and will be subject to editing. They should be a maximum of 500 words with no more than five references and should
Assessing the Dutch Experience, 2012
Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde
Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, Jan 13, 2003
To collect medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation in mentall... more To collect medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation in mentally-competent patients. Literature search. Medical-ethical arguments for and against the practice of terminal sedation were sought in electronic databases, for example Pubmed, Medline, and the Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services. The arguments found can help in making a well-considered and careful decision. Terminal sedation can be defined as deliberately inducing and maintaining deep sleep in terminally-ill patients with recalcitrant symptoms, by using high doses of sedatives but without the intention of hastening death. Arguments in favour of this approach included: good care provision, useful medical procedure, autonomy of the patient, the doctrine of the double effect and an alternative for euthanasia and assisted suicide. Arguments against included: impossible to communicate due to sedation, responsibility for unintended consequences, shortening the length of lif...
Health Care Analysis, 2004
Respecting patient autonomy is an important value in (mental) health care. In many jurisdictions,... more Respecting patient autonomy is an important value in (mental) health care. In many jurisdictions, this value is translated into the concept of informed consent, which implies that before treatment or research can take place, the patient or research subject should give consent ...
Developing World Bioethics
The issue of benefits in international clinical research is highly controversial. Against the bac... more The issue of benefits in international clinical research is highly controversial. Against the background of wide recognition of the need to share benefits of research, the nature of benefits remains strongly contested. Little is known about the perspectives of research populations on this issue and the extent to which research ethics discourses and guidelines are salient to the expectations and aspirations existing on the ground. This exploratory study contributes to filling this void by examining perspectives of people in low-income South African communities on benefits in international clinical research. Twenty-four individuals with and without experience of being involved in clinical research participated in in-depth interviews. Respondents felt that ancillary care should be provided to clinical research participants, while a clinical study conducted in particular community should bring better health to its members through post-trial benefits. Respondents' perspectives were g...
Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie
Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie
The development and use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise ethical issues. Ethical issues c... more The development and use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise ethical issues. Ethical issues concern the consequences of an early diagnosis, the creation of unreasonable hope, possible negative effects of rivastigmine use, problems concerning stopping with rivastigmine, the patient role in decision-making and the possibility of conflicting interests. Within the ethical literature, hypotheses about the meaning of this drug for the patients have been formulated. This research aimed to investigate the experiences of caregivers of patients who used rivastigmine. The data have been collected by semi-structured interviews. The study included 12 caregivers of rivastigmine users. The--preliminary--results seem to indicate that theoretical considerations should be modified in the light of the experiences of caregivers. For example, problematic consequences of an early diagnosis and the creation of unreasonable hope did not appear in this study. Also problems concerning the rising awareness of cognitive decline were not found. In the interest of a further ethical debate concerning the development and use of antidementia drugs it is important to modify these theoretical considerations.