Apuntes de Bioética

Exegesis on the dignity of the person

2025-07-03T19:58:17+00:00

The purpose of this study is to analyze and present an exegesis of the concept of human dignity. This is regarding the bioethical implications surrounding supernumerary embryos. Thus, the study will be conducted from the perspective of the anthropological-personalist model. This approach places the human being at the center of its focus, distancing itself from reductionist frameworks such as radical liberalism, utilitarianism, among others, which tend to objectify human life. Consequently, this academic proposal emphasizes a fundamental moral value: human dignity, understood as an intrinsic, inherent, and immutable attribute of every human being, which must guide all scientific and technical practices.

This ethical reflection seeks to highlight the importance of establishing clear bioethical boundaries in biotechnological applications. Considering that these do not affect objects but rather subjects. Therefore, through this literature review, employing a methodology based on scientific evidence (MBSE), the aim is to strengthen the moral-scientific debate, grounded in respect for human life. As well as, in the recognition of dignity as the cornerstone of research standards or in healthcare professional-patient relationship, thereby contributing to the humanization of the latter.

Bioethics and the humanization of care

2025-07-03T19:53:35+00:00

Bioethics and the humanization of care represent fundamental pillars for transforming health care, promoting a vision centered on the dignity, rights and integral wellbeing of the patient. Traditionally, biomedical models have prioritized the disease, relegating the human dimension of the care process. However, the individual-centered care model redefines this perspective by situating the patient as an active subject, with his or her own values, emotions and sociocultural contexts. Bioethics, as a normative discipline, establishes essential principles such as autonomy, beneficence and justice, guaranteeing ethical and respectful medical practice. For its part, the humanization of care requires a modification of interaction in the health professional-patient relationship, emphasizing empathy, communication and shared responsibility in making health determinations at the individual level. The integration of these principles in the education of human talent in health and in the design of health policies is crucial to consolidate more just, equitable and person-centered health systems. This article analyzes the intersection between bioethics and the humanization of care, highlighting their role in advancing the quality of care and in promoting a model of care that recognizes individuality and respect for each individual.

Analysis from a personalist bioethics perspective on the role of the hospital pharmacist in euthanasia

2025-05-05T20:41:39+00:00

The word "euthanasia" comes from the Greek: "eu," meaning good, and "thanatos," meaning death; etymologically, it means "good death." However, in most legal texts, euthanasia is commonly defined as the medical act by which a person's death is caused directly and intentionally, with the person having voluntarily chosen it, due to a serious and incurable illness or a severe, chronic, and disabling condition. The regulation of euthanasia presents an ethical dilemma for the practice of healthcare professions, directly challenging their fundamental objective of caring for and safeguarding the lives of patients. The lack of training and information for hospital pharmacists in this area, as well as the progress made in developing responsible pharmaceutical care that is involved in the pharmacotherapy of patients, highlights the need for a thorough analysis of their roles and duties as healthcare professionals, as well as the implications of their involvement in euthanasia.

Level of knowledge about patient rights and level of empathy among general practitioners in Lambayeque, Peru

2025-07-15T11:57:22+00:00

Respecting patient rights and establishing a relationship based on empathy is very important in a physician's professional practice, but some studies report low levels. This can lead to an increase in legal and ethical issues and dissatisfaction with patient care. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to humanize healthcare, and to achieve this, physicians must be empathetic and aware of patient rights.

This study seeks to describe the level of knowledge about patient rights and the level of empathy among general practitioners in Lambayeque, Peru. To this end, a descriptive, cross-sectional, and observational study was conducted. The study involved a population of 310 general practitioners registered in Lambayeque, Peru; the sample consisted of 255 physicians. A questionnaire was administered to assess knowledge of patient rights, in addition to the Jefferson Physician Empathy Scale. The data collected in April and May 2024 were processed using SPSS version 25 software, revealing that 94.9% of general practitioners had a high level of knowledge about patient rights and 78.4% had a medium level of empathy. These findings suggest that general practitioners displayed adequate knowledge about patient rights; however, their level of empathy was medium, which needs to be improved due to its impact on patient care. Furthermore, these aspects should be learned and practiced throughout medical training through ethics and bioethics courses.

To humanize or not to humanize? That is the question

2025-07-03T19:50:58+00:00

The influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics in absolutely every area of human activity, coupled with the COVID pandemic and the widening demographic gap between the elderly population and the availability of human talent in the healthcare sector, have necessitated the use of social robots within the healthcare sector. While it is true that social robots' physical appearance and ability to interact have made them seemingly ideal for use with patients such as adults with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, it is imperative to analyze the legal and social issues arising from the deployment of this type of robot in the healthcare field. Thus, the main social problems encountered were: the resizing of the relationships generated in healthcare centers, patient distrust of autonomous systems, and the dangers arising from the humanization of robotics. Finally, at the legal level, issues such as the potential leakage of sensitive data throughout the life cycle of robots and the confusing relationship between accidents caused by machines and civil liability became evident.

Chemical castration as a punishment in Peru

2025-06-30T17:59:02+00:00

This paper critically analyzes the viability of chemical castration as a penalty for sexual offenders from a bioethical and legal perspective. It argues that this measure is contrary to fundamental principles such as human dignity, personal autonomy, and informed consent, all of which are essential in any medical intervention that modifies a person's body. To this end, all the bills submitted to the Congress of the Republic of Peru between 2016 and 2024 proposing the incorporation of chemical castration as a criminal sanction for sexual offenders have been reviewed and analyzed. The analysis identified eight bills presented during the period under study, all of which exhibit serious normative deficiencies, lack of a clear legal framework, and violate constitutional guarantees. Furthermore, it is noted that these legislative proposals respond more to a logic of social revenge and punitive populism than to a genuine purpose of rehabilitation or social reintegration of the offender, which is openly incompatible with the principles and values governing a constitutional state governed by the rule of law. Moreover, it is argued that chemical castration does not constitute an effective measure to address the structural causes of sexual violence and could even generate counterproductive effects for offenders, victims, and society in general.

Integrated university training in bioethics and information technology for dignified care

2025-07-03T19:54:50+00:00

Contemporary university work cannot be understood without computer applications, and they must be used without their pedagogical use altering the essence and purpose of educating people integrally. Technology facilitates access to knowledge and communication, but inappropriate use can be harmful, which requires training in solid bioethical criteria to avoid harmful decisions that may be detrimental to the people they will serve in the future exercise of their profession. Ethics, in its various forms (metaethics, normative ethics, ethics of minimums, among others), offers frameworks to address dilemmas related to technology in university education, promoting informed and responsible decisions. Bioethics, with approaches such as personalist, principlist, virtue bioethics, ecological and pragmatic, emphasizes the importance of human dignity and environmental sustainability in the academic context. The interdisciplinary article investigates and theoretically analyzes these aspects to motivate a suitable training in the university community, from bioethics, in the responsible use of technoscience and informatics.

Integrating humanization in health professional training through clinical simulation

2025-06-30T18:03:42+00:00

The increasing automation and standardization of healthcare have raised concerns about the risk of dehumanization, affecting both patient trust and professional well-being. Humanization, understood as the integration of technical proficiency with the recognition of patient dignity, has become a key priority in health professions education. Within this context, clinical simulation has emerged as an effective pedagogical tool for fostering empathy, communication, and other humanistic competencies among students in the health sciences.

This review analyzes the literature on the use of simulation as a tool to teach humanization in healthcare, identifying key strategies and evaluating their impact. Findings highlight that the use of standardized patients, realistic scenarios, and reflective debriefing enhances students' ability to provide person-centered care.

Although simulation has proven effective in teaching empathy and communication, significant gaps remain regarding its long-term impact and its implementation across various health disciplines. It is recommended to integrate humanization into simulation-based curricula and to develop standardized methods of assessment. Promoting an educational culture grounded in humanistic values is essential for improving the quality of care and the satisfaction of both patients and healthcare professionals.

Personalistic bioethics in supporting marriages in a situation of breakdown

2025-05-05T20:41:59+00:00

The practice of family support for families in vulnerable situations—primarily family counseling—is directly connected to bioethics and the family, to that biofamily focused on the protection and development of each member while respecting their personal dignity.

This article aims to present a very concrete bioethical contribution—based on praxis—within the personalist approach to family support and counseling in problems related to the breakdown of canonical marriages. Not surprisingly, this approach contemplates the total care of the family and each of its members, the freedom and responsibility of actions, as well as the solidarity that encompasses the well-being, not only psychophysical but integral, of the family in crisis. It also aims to continue forging paths in the necessary scientific interdisciplinarity between Bioethics and Family Sciences. From this starting point, the article aims to delve deeper into the care of marriages in crisis from a holistic and multidisciplinary perspective, combining the juridical and pastoral nature of the sacrament of marriage with the psychological and spiritual needs of the spouses and, consequently, of their offspring, if any; and the personalist and humanist ethics that demand to be developed, even more splendidly, in these situations of particular fragility and vulnerability.