Policy in the Light: Professional Society Guidelines Begin the Ethical Conversations About Screening

摘要

Burger and Kass (2009) offer a thoughtful analysis about how clinicians should respond to the commercial availability of tests for which there is not a consensus that population-based screening is appropriate. They reach for a middle ground by acknowledging that, even in the absence of population-level recommendations because of insufficient evidence, there can be both reasons and circumstances for clinicians to provide screening to some patients. They propose that clinicians should not promote, advertise, or recommend such tests to their patients. Their analysis for this position is not fully developed, but their main focus regards how clinicians should respond to requests from patients for such screening tests. Here, they offer a nuanced account for determining which tests, for which diseases, and under what patient and provider conditions, it might be acceptable for clinicians to accommodate patient requests.