Kennedy, Ashley Graham

In this thesis I argue that the title “doctor” negatively affects the physician-patient relationship. This conclusion is important, because this relationship is the cornerstone of medical care and has emotional, physical, and informational impacts on the patient, the physician, and the healthcare system overall. From the analysis of various anecdotes I show that patients often relinquish their autonomy in the presence of medical titles, and that this causes an imbalance in the power dynamics of the physician-patient relationship, which in turn can negatively affect patient care. Finally, I argue that abolishing medical titles would foster an environment where the ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence are carefully balanced and where patients, physicians, and other healthcare professionals can interact as equals in the clinical setting.

This thesis examines placebos and their potential for use in clinical
settings. I begin by defining “placebo” and “placebo effect” in various contexts, including
associated biochemical mechanisms. I then discuss how expectation, conditioning, and
patient-physician interactions influence the magnitude of the placebo effect on patients.
My research delves into the difficulty of defining and measuring the placebo effect given
its subjective nature, and supports the harnessing of this effect as a viable treatment
option for certain conditions, including but not limited to depression and pain
management. Finally, I address the accompanying ethical concerns of placebo use in
clinical practice in addition to potential difficulties with and hindrances to
implementation. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to provide a guide for the successful
use of placebos in clinical practice, taking into consideration both evidence-based and
ethical factors.

In this thesis, I first describe three strategies used around the world to encourage or enforce vaccination. I then review the vaccine standards of both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization and present a number of common reasons used by individuals to justify vaccine refusal. I then outline a number of ethical tenets that can be used to evaluate vaccine policies and apply those principles to the policies described above. In this evaluation, I assert that ethical vaccine policies should not seek either to punish individuals for exercising their right to autonomy or to coerce them with threats. Rather, they should attempt to ensure the maintenance of public safety among vaccine compliant individuals and those who are unable to vaccinate for health-related reasons rather than elective ones.

I will be looking in depth between the similarities and differences of brand name and generic medications. I will see what makes one a brand name and one a generic and how similar and different the drugs can be from each other before they are considered an entirely different drug. After that, I will talk about the FDA guidelines, and how my research shows evidence for something entirely different. Finally, I will then look at case studies, my own experience, and surveys to see which drug is preferred more among people and why they chose what they do, and if they think one type is better than the other.