부산대학교 도서관

Recent progress in genetic analysis and therapeutics provide patients and families with a hope for the cure of intractable diseases. The current age also enforces pediatricians to think over the complex and diverse decision-making processes and therapeutic options for each patient. Presumably, this situation will become more complex within the range of legal and ethical consensus for therapeutic options that pediatricians must consider as advocates for ill children. We cannot simplify or streamline the process for how they support the interests of children and what they should protect. When standing at the critical point of decision-making for a life-threatening condition, pediatricians need to develop agreement with their patients and families through persistent discussions without setting up a goal for agreement among them. Thus, translational research in pediatrics may represent the search for essence deeply embedded in bioethics, which may possibly lead us to untangling the conundrums in clinical practice.