Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities

Bioethics Research

Research conducted by Center faculty has addressed a wide range of bioethics issues with important public policy implications, including:

• In 1989, we surveyed all Wisconsin physicians who had been sued for malpractice, along with the patients who sued them, in order to evaluate the causes and effects of the litigation experience on the physician-patient relationship and to suggest alternative approaches to the problems of professional negligence. (R. Shapiro, et al. A Survey of Sued and Nonsued Physicians and Suing Patients. Archives of Internal Medicine 1989; 149: 2190-2196.)
   
• Using a case-based survey instrument, we researched Wisconsin physicians' attitudes toward euthanasia and the likely impact of its legalization on respondents' practices and physician-patient relationships. (R. Shapiro, et al. Willingness to Perform Active Euthanasia: A Survey of Physician Attitudes. Archives of Internal Medicine 1994; 154: 575-584.)
   
• In light of the proliferation and endorsement of ethics committees in health care institutions throughout the country over the past ten to twenty years, we conducted a survey of Wisconsin hospitals regarding the composition and functions of their ethics committees. This survey solicited data from hospitals with an existing ethics committee about the history of these committees, characteristics, and perceived strengths and weaknesses of these committees. (R. Shapiro, et al. Wisconsin Healthcare Ethics Committees. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1997; 6: 288-292.)
   
• In 1996, Center faculty collaborated on research that studied the effect of state legislation requiring the disclosure of options for the treatment of breast cancer on the use of breast-conserving surgery in clinical practice. (A. Nattinger, et al. The Effect of Legislative Requirements of the Use of Breast-Conserving Surgery. The New England Journal of Medicine 1996; 335: 1035-1040.)
   
• In 1998, we began to explore the impact of managed care on the physician-patient relationship from the perspectives of both physicians and patients. Our first survey, directed to Wisconsin physicians, solicited information on the prevalence of managed care arrangements in respondents' practices and the impact of these arrangements on their professional and personal lives and on their relationships with patients. (R. Shapiro, et al. Managed Care: Effects on the Physician-Patient Relationship. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2000; 9: 71-81.)
   
• In 1999, we conducted a telephone survey with a representative group of Wisconsin health care consumers that solicited data regarding (a) the respondents' experiences with changes in our health care delivery structure, and (b) respondents' perceptions of the impact of these changes on their relationships with their physicians. (R. Shapiro, et al. Managed Care, Doctors, and Patients: Focusing on Relationships, Not Rights. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, forthcoming Summer 2003.)