Ethics in sports medicine
Dunn WR, George MS, Churchill L, Spindler KP. “Ethics in Sports Medicine”, American Journal of Sports Medicine 2007 May;35(5):840-4
Abstract:
Physicians have struggled with the medical ramifications of athletic
competition since ancient Greece, where rational medicine and organized
athletics originated. Historically, the relationship between sport and medicine
was adversarial because of conflicts between health and sport. However, modern
sports medicine has emerged with the goal of improving performance and
preventing injury, and the concept of the "team physician" has become
an integral part of athletic culture. With this distinction come unique ethical
challenges because the customary ethical norms for most forms of clinical
practice, such as confidentiality and patient autonomy, cannot be translated
easily into sports medicine. The particular areas of medical ethics that present
unique challenges in sports medicine are informed consent, third parties,
advertising, confidentiality, drug use, and innovative technology.
Unfortunately, there is no widely accepted code of sports medicine ethics that
adequately addresses these issues.
