On Dharma as depicted in Mahābhārata, Hindu classical epic.

Although there are exceptions, the principle of primum nil nocere remains the cornerstone of the practice of medicine. In the well known handbook, Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics1 a case is presented which raises doubts about the permissibility of off-label administration of certain drugs to healthy troops as a preventive measure. The following citation from this handbook gives a clear description of the problem:"Prophylaxis in cholinesterase inhibitor poisoning. Studies in experimental animals have shown that pretreatment with pyridostigmine (...) reduces the incapacitation and mortality associated with “nerve agent” poisoning, particularly for agents, such as soman, that … ". (shrink)

D.O. Thomas; VI*—The Duty to Trust, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 79, Issue 1, 1 June 1979, Pages 89–102, https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian.

En las obras de Kant las observaciones respecto del lenguaje y la gramática son pocas y dispersas. Ello llevó a la tesis del 'silencio de Kant' respecto del lenguaje y la gramática. Este trabajo sostiene por el contrario: 1) en las obras de Kant hay comentarios explícitos respecto de la gramática; 2) comprenderlos en su propio horizonte terminológico y conceptual es necesario para proponer una versión unificada de éstos; 3) es posible identificar un triple enfoque de la gramática: empírico, formal (...) y trascendental: esta identificación ofrece la base para analizar la posición de Kant respecto de la gramática filosófica en relación con la filosofía del lenguaje actual. Observations on language and grammar and scattered throughout the writings of Kant. This led to thesis such as the 'silence of Kant' with regards to language and grammar. This paper adopts a different view, sustaining following theses: 1. There are explicit remarks on grammar in Kant's writings; 2. Understanding these remarks within the terminological and conceptual Kantian own horizon seems to be a necessary first step to propose a unified interpretation of them; 3. from the point of view of the critical writings it is possible to identify a triple approach to grammar: empirical, formal and transcendental; 4. This identification offers a basis for discussing Kant's position on philosophical grammar in connection with contemporary philosophy of language. (shrink)

Recently I reported in this journal1 how it became necessary for a judge to settle a dispute between the pharmaceutical industry and certain Dutch pharmacists. It considered the question of whether a pharmacist is permitted, without prior consultation, to give a patient a generic drug instead of the patent drug mentioned on the prescription.Another dispute has now arisen after the pharmaceutical industry discovered that healthcare insurers were paying general practitioners a bonus if they prescribed generic drugs, such as simvastatin or (...) omeprazol (which reduces the …. (shrink)

In September 1998 the Dutch Ministry of Health together with the Dutch Society of General Practitioners , the Royal Dutch Society of Pharmacists , and the Dutch Patient and Consumer Federation published a pamphlet entitled: The same medicine in a different coat. Drugs without a trademark, equally effective, but cheaper. Patients could obtain a copy at the local pharmacy or in the waiting room of their general practitioner. It deals with the question whether the name of the patent drug should (...) be written on the prescription or only the active component. This is important because, according to the authors, the costs of health care can be reduced without reducing the quality of the care if the doctor prescribes the generic form. It is also mentioned that another advantage of prescribing the generic form is that, contrary to the …. (shrink)

sirIn the January 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine three articles appeared on the unapproved use of Misoprostol , which raise an interesting ethical question. The synthetic prostaglandin analogue, Misoprostol, has been successfully used by obstetricians and gynaecologists for a number of years for the induction of a medical abortion in the first or second trimester, for the induction of labour, and for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhages.1 Strangely enough the pharmaceutical company which produces and markets the (...) drug, Searle, …. (shrink)

Last year I described in this journal1 an unacceptable influence of a pharmaceutical company on the off-label use of one of its products. Now I would like to report on an acceptable and even praiseworthy initiative of a pharmaceutical manufacturer in monitoring the use of its drug. The devastating action of thalidomide on the human embryo caused its withdrawal from the market in ….

D. O. Thomas; XIII—Obedience to Conscience, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 64, Issue 1, 1 June 1964, Pages 243–258, https://doi.org/10.1093/ari.

The following essay is an attempt at bringing together two conceptions, the one theological and ascetical, the other philos–ophical. This confrontation may be attempted either from the point of view of theology, using revealed premises, or from the point of view of philosophy using the methods of purely rational analysis. It is the latter task I am undertaking here. I do not argue from revealed premises, but I do take account of the mighty phenomenon of the Christian revelation. It is, (...) as I see it, absolutely essential to keep theology and philosophy distinct as methods, but this does not prevent the one from providing useful material and suggestive hypotheses for the other. (shrink)

The problem the author sets himself in this historico-critical study of the post-Kantian development of the a priori is: Can one understand the nature of the a priori as part of the explanation of knowledge, without assigning it exclusively to the subject and without radically identifying the a priori and the a posteriori? Dufrenne thinks this can be done by retaining a dualism of subject and object. Well-written and scholarly. An index would have been helpful.--D. D. O.

In 1998 a lawyer working for the Dutch consumer organisation, Consumentenbond, suggested that hospitals, like hotels, should be classified according to the quality of service they provide.1 For the establishment of such a register it would of course be necessary to determine various parameters, including the incidence of complications occurring in each hospital. It did not take long before this proposal was rejected by van Herk2 on the grounds that it would promote defensive medicine, which would not improve the ….

Richard Price argued for democratic institutions on the ground that each individual has a moral responsibility for the good government of his community. This assumption that political responsibilities are moral responsibilities was in turn derived from the belief that each individual has a continuous duty to create in his own personality and in his relations with his fellow men the conditions of the virtuous life. Popular political responsibility was thus defended by the extension of a rigorous moral athleticism into the (...) sphere of social arrangements. The dominating feature of this demand for comprehensive reform and reconstruction is the attempt to construe the moral life as a process in which the individual struggles to recreate himself in the light of his most mature conceptions. These conceptions, Price maintained, are determined rationally, and that they are so is presented in two different ways. Either as in the case of the principles of moral judgment they are held to be the objects of a rational intuition; or as in the defence of democratic institutions they are derived from an abstract construction of the demands of moral personality. (shrink)

More a biography of the man and his times than a doctrinal study, this impressive volume presents a lively portrait of Hegel and an argument for his contemporary relevance. Prof. Müller sets out to explode the "myths" about Hegel's personality and philosophical achievement. The first part of his program succeeds admirably. By including many letters to friends, love-letters, poems and private papers, he builds up the picture of an interesting and attractive personality. A second volume on Hegel's philosophical significance is (...) promised.--D. D. O. (shrink)

Thomistic ethics has sometimes been accused of being excessively rationalistic, impersonal, and a priori. This study attempts to provide textual support from Aquinas for an interpretation which stresses the primacy of conscience, individual responsibility, and the central importance of the virtue of prudence. The doctrine seems timely and suggestive, but the author's decision to write in scholastic jargon limits the effectiveness of this book for the uninitiated.--D. D. O.