•  15
    Decision-making capacity: from testing to evaluation
    with Martin Feuz, Manuel Trachsel, and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 23 (2): 253-259. 2020.
    Decision-making capacity is the gatekeeping element for a patient’s right to self-determination with regard to medical decisions. A DMC evaluation is not only conducted on descriptive grounds but is an inherently normative task including ethical reasoning. Therefore, it is dependent to a considerable extent on the values held by the clinicians involved in the DMC evaluation. Dealing with the question of how to reasonably support clinicians in arriving at a DMC judgment, a new tool is presented t…Read more
  •  17
    Shedding Light on Implicit Processes and the Inherent Vagueness of Decision-Making Capacity
    with Manuel Trachsel and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 24 (4): 333-335. 2017.
    We are grateful to Paul S. Appelbaum and Wayne Martin for their thoughtful remarks on our paper. Among the various aspects that we might address and refute in return, we have decided to focus on just two issues that we believe have potential to advance the debate. According to Appelbaum, the “assessment of an intuitive process is being predicated on a patient having the ability to reflect on determinants of which he may be completely unaware.” In this passage, he points to an apparently “self-ev…Read more
  •  22
    Accounting for Intuition in Decision-Making Capacity: Rethinking the Reasoning Standard?
    with Manuel Trachsel and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 24 (4): 313-324. 2017.
    A patient’s decision-making capacity or competence is among the prerequisites for valid consent to medical treatment, and is regarded as the gatekeeping element in ensuring respect for patients’ self-determination. The issue is especially relevant in the case of vulnerable persons, such as patients who are cognitively or mentally impaired, and where medical decisions carry far-reaching consequences. As a grounding principle, DMC is a priori assumed, and challenged only when substantial doubts ar…Read more
  •  25
    Einwilligungsfähigkeit: inhärente Fähigkeit oder ethisches Urteil?
    with Manuel Trachsel and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Ethik in der Medizin 28 (2): 107-120. 2016.
    ZusammenfassungDie Bestimmung der Einwilligungsfähigkeit von Patienten beinhaltet weitreichende ethische und rechtliche Implikationen. Ausreichende Klärung des Begriffs ist daher unerlässlich. Solche Bemühungen gelten vorwiegend der Definition von Kriterien hinsichtlich relevanter mentaler Fähigkeiten. Grundlegendere Aspekte werden kaum explizit besprochen, so die Frage, ob Einwilligungsfähigkeit eher eine inhärente Fähigkeit oder ein ethisches Urteil bezeichnet. Zentral bei dieser Unterscheidun…Read more
  •  25
    Physicians’ personal values in determining medical decision-making capacity: a survey study
    with Manuel Trachsel and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (9): 739-744. 2015.
  •  42
    Emotion and Value in the Evaluation of Medical Decision-Making Capacity: A Narrative Review of Arguments
    with Manuel Trachsel, Bernice S. Elger, and Nikola Biller-Andorno
    Frontiers in Psychology 7. 2016.
    ver since the traditional criteria for medical decision-making capacity (understanding, appreciation, reasoning, evidencing a choice) were formulated, they have been criticized for not taking sufficient account of emotions or values that seem, according to the critics and in line with clinical experiences, essential to decision-making capacity. The aim of this paper is to provide a nuanced and structured overview of the arguments provided in the literature emphasizing the importance of these fac…Read more