Ethical considerations in cardiovascular prevention

Abstract

The fundamental values in medical ethics include the following aspects of professional conduct: (i) actions in the best interest of patients; (ii) first, do no harm; (iii) patients' right to refuse or choose treatments; (iv) fairness and equality in the distribution of healthcare resources; and (v) truthfulness and honesty (informed consent). These values have to be considered in all diagnostic steps and therapeutic decisions. They should also form the basis for discussions of potential conflicts of interest among patients, doctors, healthcare financers and politicians. Cardiovascular (CV) diseases represent the most frequent cause of death and a major healthcare problem in most regions of the world. CV prevention is therefore an important task both in individual subjects and as a means to improve health in the general population. While the merits of treatment in patients with established CV diseases, i.e. secondary prevention, are widely accepted and regarded as necessary, primary prevention with drugs in apparently healthy individuals at an increased risk of future CV events is not free of controversies. The different types of prevention envisaged also give rise to ethical questions: Should all the growing number of classical and newly recognised CV risk markers be a reason for intervention or should they be preferably used for calculating a total risk score? What are the compelling or only relative indications for anti-hypertensive, cholesterol-lowering, anti-diabetic or platelet-inhibiting drugs? Are pre-hypertension, pre-diabetes and marginally elevated cholesterol levels early diseases justifying drug treatment, regardless of the possibility that some prophylactic interventions may be associated with adverse events? Discussions also often arise concerning the role of age, gender and of non-CV co-morbidities for decisions about long-term prevention with drugs. How reliable and applicable are 'evidence-based' guidelines derived from trials in highly selected patients and healthy subjects for the general population seen in everyday practice? Increasingly, the economic aspects of long-term prevention and problems of a fair allocation of limited healthcare resources are also important issues giving rise to contrasting views among patients, doctors, insurance providers and politicians. What are the priorities and who should decide? Ethical considerations relating to the above questions in CV prevention are discussed in this article.