PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Z Szawarski
AU  - A Tulczyński
TI  - Treatment of defective newborns--a survey of paediatricians in Poland.
AID  - 10.1136/jme.14.1.11
DP  - 1988 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 11--17
VI  - 14
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/14/1/11.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/14/1/11.full
SO  - J Med Ethics1988 Mar 01; 14
AB  - We report the results of a survey of the attitudes and practices of paediatricians in Warsaw, Poland, with respect to the treatment of infants born with severe handicaps. The results are compared with a similar survey conducted by Australian researchers (1). In the Polish medical community surveyed, unconditional respect for life is a dominant attitude. Our study has revealed a deeply-entrenched paternalistic attitude among Polish doctors and a strong unwillingness to distinguish between 'ordinary and extraordinary means' of prolonging life, as well as an ambivalent attitude towards legal regulations binding in Poland.