[Cesarean section on request because of labor pain--bioethical and legal views].

Non-medical reasons that influence the decision to perform cesarean section are the subject of numerous medical and bioethical debates. The questions to be answered are: can a pregnant woman demand cesarean section based on her right to make decisions, i.e.

[Medical Association of the Croatian Coast and Gorski kotar].

In the Province Hospital Susak the Medical Association of the Croatian Coast and Gorski kotar was founded on October 2nd, 1936. At that time on the territory of the former District of Susak there were 59 physicians. The inauguration meeting was attended by 41 physicians and 26 of them voted for the autonomous Association rather than for one within the Croatian Medical Association of Zagreb.

[Bioethical and legal aspects of patient education].

In the last 35 years, patient education has started to gradually develop at hospitals as well as in primary health care. Now, it is an integral part of communication in health care. Due to the expanding application of technology in the field of medicine, it is difficult to achieve appropriate and extensive patient education.

[Palliative care as a response to dysthanasia].

Palliative care is frequently discussed as an alternative or a counter-balance to euthanasia. In this paper, palliative care is considered as a response to dysthanasia or therapeutic persistence. First, the main features of dysthanasia are mentioned: the accent is put on different questions: until when to implement therapeutic persistence? When does the treatment become useless? What is a permanent vegetative condition? Then, palliative care, the scope of which is to achieve the best life quality for the patient and his family is discussed.

Plasma copper concentrations in pathological pregnancies.

Copper is an essential element required for the formation of many enzymes with important roles in the human body. During pregnancy, the maternal serum copper concentration is increased due to the higher levels of ceruloplasmin that are the result of elevated oestrogen levels. The aim of this work was to investigate maternal plasma copper concentrations in relation to various pathological conditions during pregnancy.