Israel Medical Association Journal

The innovation that has taken place in medicine, combined with state-of-the-art technological developments, provides therapeutic options for patients in conditions that were previously considered incurable. This promotion at the same time presents us with new ethical challenges. In this article, we review the journey through life of an advanced heart failure patient, covering a variety of potential clinical and ethics subjects in the field of heart failure treatment. We review the ethical principles of the Hippocratic Oath against the background of the realities of practicing medicine and of the enormous advances in therapeutics.  

The ethical chapter of the Israel Medical Association has recently issued guidelines with regard to exual relationships between doctors and patients or past patients. This paper juxtaposes the paternalistic and severe attitude to doctor-patient sex with the relaxation and individualization of decisions regarding doctors' involvement in assisted suicide, passive and active euthanasia. The discussion bears on our concepts of palliative care and our expectations from it.