Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Entropy as the main justification for research in medical ethics

Entropy as the main justification for research in medical ethics Ethics is an unconventional field of research for a surgeon, as ethics in surgery owns several specificities and surgery is considered an aggressive specialty. Therefore, the interest of research in medical ethics is sometimes unclear. In this short essay, we discussed the interest of research in medical ethics using a comparison to thermodynamics and mainly, entropy. During the transformation of a figure from one state to another, some energy is released or absorbed; yet, a part of this energy is wasted because of “unordered” (and unsuccessful) reactions: it is Entropy. This “wasted energy” exists in Medical practice and justifies research in Medical ethics. Keywords: Medical ethics, Surgery, Research in medical ethics Surgery has always been one of the rare forgone conclu- learned Ethics as I have learned Surgery - daily, humbly, sions in my life. As a young child, I realized the wonderful seriously – and researched in both fields. power of this discipline: my arm was shattered, crippled, Ethics is often considered an unconventional field of excruciating, massively infected, and, when amputation research for a surgeon. Because of the inner nature of was at some point mentioned, Surgery (and the amaz- Surgery – the consented violence, the huis clos – and the ing adaptability of life) made it functional again. Beyond tormented relationship between Surgery and Medicine outcomes, I perceived the mystical pattern of this profes- – Surgery was not regarded as a medical or academic sion: in case of a life-threatening, hopeless condition, the specialty for centuries and was therefore left to butchers surgeon’s hands may cure, like a shaman’s or a prophet’s –, surgeons may be seen yet as immoral, bestial, blood- hands. And as a patient, I discerned how intimate the thirsty health workers, a nature that is discordant with relationship with the surgeon was, the given trust ena- ethical principles. This is obviously wrong and specific bling you to accept iron tools in your vulnerable body. subjects of surgical ethics have been defined and stud - Despite my young age, I knew that Surgery was more a ied (the unpredictability, the irreversibility, the variabil- matter of soul than flesh. From fascination to vocation, ity, and the Genesis of evidence). Also, the layman might years and years after, I have become a surgeon. Ethics is consider the ethician as a conceited Mr. Know-it-all: most certainly the counterpart of this deeply-rooted mission; imagine that Ethics draws the fine line between Good and I was a patient, I developed into a surgeon, and as I was Evil (when ethicians know that Ethics begins far beyond seeking the fair act for patients (humans with diseases), this line). Due to these potential reasons among others, I I understood my inclination for Ethics. Therefore, I have was recently requested to publicly justify Medical Ethics as a chosen field of research. I was speechless and sur - prised: I see Ethics in Medicine like Ecology in Politics, it should be implemented in all programs. Yet, I was unable *Correspondence: spleen2008@live.fr to explain the obvious interest of Ethics in Surgery, mak- Service de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Louis Pasteur, ing Ethics (and my research) useless for the auditory. Hôpitaux de Chartres, 4, rue Claude Bernard, 28630 Le Coudray, France Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ publi cdoma in/ zero/1. 0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Zarzavadjian Le Bian et al. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (2022) 17:9 Page 2 of 2 A couple of days later, with a persistent thought of my assess if the risks are acceptable considering the benefits, failure, I had an unexpected and brief moment of clarity. from the individual and collective standpoint. This anal - Packing useless papers at home, I found old lessons of ysis is the pragmatic translation of the quest for mean- chemistry from my very first year as a student in medi - ing in medical practice; without criticism of this wasted cine: Thermodynamics. And as principles of thermody - energy, everything would be allowed regardless of the namics were coming back to my mind, the shape of my patient’s wish, benefits, and complications with or with - justification appeared. out treatment. Therefore, Entropy justifies research in Thermodynamics is the field of science that describes, Medical Ethics. quantifies, and analyzes the transformation of a figure Acknowledgements from one state to another; for example, from liquid to The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or gas, or from “cold” to “hot” water. This change releases publication of this article. or absorbs energy (mostly heat). Yet, a part of this Disclosure energy is wasted during the process because of “unor- No funding has been received for this work from any of the following organi‑ dered” (and unsuccessful) reactions; the quantity of lost zations: National Institutes of Health (NIH); Wellcome Trust; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); and other(s). energy depends on the reaction, volume, and other fac- tors, but is unpreventable: it is Entropy. As in Thermo - Authors’ contributions dynamics, the medical practice aims to change a figure AZLB, LP, CT, and MFM: draft, important intellectual content. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript. (“the patient”) from a state (“unhealthy”) to another state (“healthy”). You can consider any definition for “healthy” Funding and therefore, “unhealthy” – fitter, happier, more pro - None. ductive, etc.-, the patient always requests a change (or Availability of data and materials to restore a previous state) to the physician. Like during Not applicable. a thermodynamic reaction, some energy is lost in medi- cal practice due to Entropy; this wasted energy that is Declarations related to unsuccessful/unordered reactions should be Ethics approval and consent to participate seen as all failures during this change of state (ineffec - Not applicable. Patient and public were not involved as it was not appropriate. tive or inappropriate treatment, complication, side effect, social consequence, etc.). Also, as Entropy is linked to the Consent for publication Not applicable. notions of decay, chaos, and the unlikely possibility that occurs, it facilitates the understanding of ineffectiveness Competing interests in Medicine: any unspontaneous change requires energy, The authors have no competing interest to declare regarding this manuscript. the improbable will occur and, at the very end, medical Author details practice fights against a natural and inexorable process 1 Service de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Louis Pasteur, Hôpitaux towards death. Finally, Entropy may affect a minor part de Chartres, 4, rue Claude Bernard, 28630 Le Coudray, France. Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM, Sorbonne Université, USPC, Université Paris of the system to dysfunction with major consequences to Descartes, Université Paris Diderot, Équipe d’accueil ETRES, Paris, France. Ser‑ the overall system; in terms of health, an accessory but vice de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique impaired function might cause a chain reaction leading – Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris XIII, Bobigny, France. to a life-threatening condition. Furthermore, this dys- Received: 4 May 2020 Accepted: 1 April 2022 function and conservation of energy (conservatism in most fields) might result in a lack of advances in medicine (including progress). Two distinct origins for this wasted energy might be recognized. First, from the individual standpoint, the treatment is not always successful, and a Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in pub‑ part of the energy, beliefs, and hope that the patient has lished maps and institutional affiliations. invested in medical practice (and in doctors) will be lost. Then, from a collective standpoint, a part of the energy and means (money, time) involved in the management of patients will be lost. Research in Medical Ethics analyzes this lost energy: the lost energy from the individual standpoint is individ- ual ethics; the lost energy from the collective standpoint is public health. Furthermore, Ethics has to evaluate this wasted energy and compare it to the reaction, in order to http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png "Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine" Springer Journals

Entropy as the main justification for research in medical ethics

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/entropy-as-the-main-justification-for-research-in-medical-ethics-s0VuGdxDGt

References (0)

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2022
eISSN
1747-5341
DOI
10.1186/s13010-022-00121-5
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Ethics is an unconventional field of research for a surgeon, as ethics in surgery owns several specificities and surgery is considered an aggressive specialty. Therefore, the interest of research in medical ethics is sometimes unclear. In this short essay, we discussed the interest of research in medical ethics using a comparison to thermodynamics and mainly, entropy. During the transformation of a figure from one state to another, some energy is released or absorbed; yet, a part of this energy is wasted because of “unordered” (and unsuccessful) reactions: it is Entropy. This “wasted energy” exists in Medical practice and justifies research in Medical ethics. Keywords: Medical ethics, Surgery, Research in medical ethics Surgery has always been one of the rare forgone conclu- learned Ethics as I have learned Surgery - daily, humbly, sions in my life. As a young child, I realized the wonderful seriously – and researched in both fields. power of this discipline: my arm was shattered, crippled, Ethics is often considered an unconventional field of excruciating, massively infected, and, when amputation research for a surgeon. Because of the inner nature of was at some point mentioned, Surgery (and the amaz- Surgery – the consented violence, the huis clos – and the ing adaptability of life) made it functional again. Beyond tormented relationship between Surgery and Medicine outcomes, I perceived the mystical pattern of this profes- – Surgery was not regarded as a medical or academic sion: in case of a life-threatening, hopeless condition, the specialty for centuries and was therefore left to butchers surgeon’s hands may cure, like a shaman’s or a prophet’s –, surgeons may be seen yet as immoral, bestial, blood- hands. And as a patient, I discerned how intimate the thirsty health workers, a nature that is discordant with relationship with the surgeon was, the given trust ena- ethical principles. This is obviously wrong and specific bling you to accept iron tools in your vulnerable body. subjects of surgical ethics have been defined and stud - Despite my young age, I knew that Surgery was more a ied (the unpredictability, the irreversibility, the variabil- matter of soul than flesh. From fascination to vocation, ity, and the Genesis of evidence). Also, the layman might years and years after, I have become a surgeon. Ethics is consider the ethician as a conceited Mr. Know-it-all: most certainly the counterpart of this deeply-rooted mission; imagine that Ethics draws the fine line between Good and I was a patient, I developed into a surgeon, and as I was Evil (when ethicians know that Ethics begins far beyond seeking the fair act for patients (humans with diseases), this line). Due to these potential reasons among others, I I understood my inclination for Ethics. Therefore, I have was recently requested to publicly justify Medical Ethics as a chosen field of research. I was speechless and sur - prised: I see Ethics in Medicine like Ecology in Politics, it should be implemented in all programs. Yet, I was unable *Correspondence: spleen2008@live.fr to explain the obvious interest of Ethics in Surgery, mak- Service de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Louis Pasteur, ing Ethics (and my research) useless for the auditory. Hôpitaux de Chartres, 4, rue Claude Bernard, 28630 Le Coudray, France Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ publi cdoma in/ zero/1. 0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Zarzavadjian Le Bian et al. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (2022) 17:9 Page 2 of 2 A couple of days later, with a persistent thought of my assess if the risks are acceptable considering the benefits, failure, I had an unexpected and brief moment of clarity. from the individual and collective standpoint. This anal - Packing useless papers at home, I found old lessons of ysis is the pragmatic translation of the quest for mean- chemistry from my very first year as a student in medi - ing in medical practice; without criticism of this wasted cine: Thermodynamics. And as principles of thermody - energy, everything would be allowed regardless of the namics were coming back to my mind, the shape of my patient’s wish, benefits, and complications with or with - justification appeared. out treatment. Therefore, Entropy justifies research in Thermodynamics is the field of science that describes, Medical Ethics. quantifies, and analyzes the transformation of a figure Acknowledgements from one state to another; for example, from liquid to The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or gas, or from “cold” to “hot” water. This change releases publication of this article. or absorbs energy (mostly heat). Yet, a part of this Disclosure energy is wasted during the process because of “unor- No funding has been received for this work from any of the following organi‑ dered” (and unsuccessful) reactions; the quantity of lost zations: National Institutes of Health (NIH); Wellcome Trust; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); and other(s). energy depends on the reaction, volume, and other fac- tors, but is unpreventable: it is Entropy. As in Thermo - Authors’ contributions dynamics, the medical practice aims to change a figure AZLB, LP, CT, and MFM: draft, important intellectual content. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript. (“the patient”) from a state (“unhealthy”) to another state (“healthy”). You can consider any definition for “healthy” Funding and therefore, “unhealthy” – fitter, happier, more pro - None. ductive, etc.-, the patient always requests a change (or Availability of data and materials to restore a previous state) to the physician. Like during Not applicable. a thermodynamic reaction, some energy is lost in medi- cal practice due to Entropy; this wasted energy that is Declarations related to unsuccessful/unordered reactions should be Ethics approval and consent to participate seen as all failures during this change of state (ineffec - Not applicable. Patient and public were not involved as it was not appropriate. tive or inappropriate treatment, complication, side effect, social consequence, etc.). Also, as Entropy is linked to the Consent for publication Not applicable. notions of decay, chaos, and the unlikely possibility that occurs, it facilitates the understanding of ineffectiveness Competing interests in Medicine: any unspontaneous change requires energy, The authors have no competing interest to declare regarding this manuscript. the improbable will occur and, at the very end, medical Author details practice fights against a natural and inexorable process 1 Service de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Louis Pasteur, Hôpitaux towards death. Finally, Entropy may affect a minor part de Chartres, 4, rue Claude Bernard, 28630 Le Coudray, France. Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM, Sorbonne Université, USPC, Université Paris of the system to dysfunction with major consequences to Descartes, Université Paris Diderot, Équipe d’accueil ETRES, Paris, France. Ser‑ the overall system; in terms of health, an accessory but vice de Chirurgie Générale et Digestive, Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique impaired function might cause a chain reaction leading – Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris XIII, Bobigny, France. to a life-threatening condition. Furthermore, this dys- Received: 4 May 2020 Accepted: 1 April 2022 function and conservation of energy (conservatism in most fields) might result in a lack of advances in medicine (including progress). Two distinct origins for this wasted energy might be recognized. First, from the individual standpoint, the treatment is not always successful, and a Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in pub‑ part of the energy, beliefs, and hope that the patient has lished maps and institutional affiliations. invested in medical practice (and in doctors) will be lost. Then, from a collective standpoint, a part of the energy and means (money, time) involved in the management of patients will be lost. Research in Medical Ethics analyzes this lost energy: the lost energy from the individual standpoint is individ- ual ethics; the lost energy from the collective standpoint is public health. Furthermore, Ethics has to evaluate this wasted energy and compare it to the reaction, in order to

Journal

"Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine"Springer Journals

Published: May 4, 2022

Keywords: Medical ethics; Surgery; Research in medical ethics

There are no references for this article.