Ethical and legal responsibilities of the neurosurgeon: selected topics

There are many ethical and legal implications in a variety of activities in the neurosurgeon's day-to-day practice. Awareness of and proper attention to these issues are a professional responsibility that should be attended to, to ensure that the practice of medicine is carried out efficiently and effectively, to maintain public confidence, and to try to avoid micromanagement by third parties. The authors discuss four such subjects of particular interest to them, namely: 1) reporting of certain diseases and conditions to authorities and third parties; 2) acting without the consent of the patient to prevent harm to him or her and/or others; 3) reporting problems with drugs and devices; and 4) the detection and treatment of colleagues impaired by alcohol, drugs, or mental or physical illness.     

Ethical responsibilities of health professionals in caring for detainees and prisoners

The provision of humane and effective health care for prisoners presents formidable challenges. The practical and ethical problems encountered are even greater in the provision of such care for detainees under a State of Emergency. The extent to which these challenges are faced and met reflect the level of civilisation of a society, the ethical integrity of prison medical services and the degree of support they receive from their colleagues and professional associations. The need to recognise these dilemmas, to discuss them openly and to seek humane solutions, including the abolition of detention without trial, are ongoing challenges for our society, in which the legal and medical professions can and should provide leadership.     

Publishing clinical prActice GuidelinEs (PAGE): Recommendations from editors and reviewers

Transparency Ecosystem for Research and Journals in Medicine (TERM) working group summarized the essential recommendations that should be considered to review and publish a high-quality guideline. These recommendations from editors and reviewers included 10 components of essential requirements: systematic review of existing relevant guidelines, guideline registration, guideline protocol, stakeholders, conflicts of interest, clinical questions, systematic reviews, recommendation consensus, guideline reporting and external review. TERM working group abbreviates them as PAGE (essential requirements for Publishing clinical prActice GuidelinEs), and recommends guideline authors, editors, and peer reviewers to use them for high-quality guidelines.