TY - JOUR T1 - Treatment of defective newborns--a survey of paediatricians in Poland. JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 11 LP - 17 DO - 10.1136/jme.14.1.11 VL - 14 IS - 1 AU - Z Szawarski AU - A TulczyƄski Y1 - 1988/03/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/14/1/11.abstract N2 - 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. ER -