Mazzanti-di Ruggiero María de Los Ángeles, Sarmiento-Dueñas María Elvira, Hernández-Rincón Erwin Hernando, Martínez-Ceballos María Alejandra, Muñoz-Ortiz Juliana
Departamento de Bioética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Sabana, Cundinamarca, Colombia. Address: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus Universitario Puente del Común, Km 5 Autopista Norte, Chía, Colombia. Email:
Departamento de Especialidades Quirúrgicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Sabana, Cundinamarca, Colombia.
Medwave. 2019 Mar 8;19(2):e7585. doi: 10.5867/medwave.2019.02.7585.
Ophthalmology is a high-cost specialty in terms of medical, surgical and technological innovation and treatment. It is worrisome that in some countries patients are affected in their visual health, and therefore in their quality of life because they do not have the necessary resources for timely access to medications, medical appointments or surgical procedures. We searched in four electronic databases (ScienceDirect, MEDLINE/PubMed, ClinicalKey and SciELO), as well as in books on bioethics and Colombian laws, for articles related to bioethical issues and access to medicines in the exercise of ophthalmology. We reflect on the problem of access to ophthalmological drugs, with particular interest on how to apply the principles of bioethics on the clinical practice of patients with ophthalmological conditions. Ethical considerations are approached from the principles of Beauchamp and Childress, especially regarding the principle of justice, in order to provide health professionals in this field with arguments for medical and ethical decisions that benefit the healthcare and access to medicines for patients with ophthalmological conditions.
