(in medical ethics) the situation in which a health professional is subject to potential or actual pressures that may conflict with his or her obligation to promote the *best interests of the patient over and above all else. A conflict of interest arises from a particular context or situation and may threaten a doctor’s integrity and undermine trust between professional and patient. For example, a drug company may encourage a doctor to prescribe a particular medicine, which may not be the treatment of choice for a patient, or contractual financial disincentives may discourage a doctor from providing a more expensive treatment of choice for a patient. In medical research, there is always a potential conflict between protecting the individual and benefiting society. Particular problems of this kind occur in randomized controlled trials (see equipoise; intervention study). Doctors will always experience competing pressures and it is important for them to be able to recognize and then, where possible, disclose, resolve, or mitigate morally problematic conflicts.
a legal and ethical standard in medical care and treatment. A doctor has both an ethical and a legal obligation to maximize a patient’s welfare or wellbeing. When cases have gone to court, the judiciary has been clear that the concept of best interests extends beyond the purely medical. The principle of *autonomy requires that a patient with *capacity is in the best position to determine what is in his or her best interests. Where a patient lacks capacity, health-care professionals must act in his or her best interests. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, a doctor must take account of the patient’s wishes and try to determine what he or she would have wanted, possibly with reference to an advance directive (see advance directive, decision, or statement), an appointed proxy, or an *independent mental capacity advocacy service. The interests of children are especially important, and doctors must be particularly vigilant where there is a potential conflict of interests, as when reporting cases of suspected child abuse or recruiting for paediatric research.... best interests
n. (in psychology) the state produced when a stimulus produces two opposing reactions. The basic types of conflict situation are approach–approach, in which the individual is drawn towards two attractive – but mutually incompatible – goals; approach–avoidance, where the stimulus evokes reactions both to approach and to avoid; and avoidance–avoidance, in which the avoidance reaction to one stimulus would bring the individual closer to an equally unpleasant stimulus. Conflict has been used to explain the development of neurotic disorders, and the resolution of conflict remains an important part of psychoanalysis. See also conversion.... conflict
1. the expression of concern about performance or competence that is privileged at law by virtue of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. The statute provides that where an employee acts in good faith in questioning the behaviour or performance of another member of staff or an organization, he or she should be protected from such penalties as disciplinary procedures, suspension, or dismissal. See also whistle-blowing. 2. circumstances in which *confidentiality can be breached because there is a serious risk of physical harm to an identifiable individual or individuals. The basis on which confidentiality can be breached in the public interest were defined in the case of W v Egdell, in which the court held that the risk had to be of physical harm to identifiable person(s) and must not be merely ‘fanciful’. Where there is a serious risk of physical harm to a specific person, there is an entitlement but not a duty to breach confidentiality, and the *General Medical Council requires that doctors must be prepared to justify their decision either way.... public interest disclosure
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