[A reflection about the ethical implications of telemedicine].

Recognizing the role of technology in the development of medicine and the impact of telecommunication advances, we reflect on the meaning and ethics of the use of Telemedicine, both in its general dimension for the use and distribution of knowledge, as well as in the delivery of health actions, scientific research, and data management. Teleconsultation is discussed in greater detail, analyzing its process and application, reviewing its possible advantages and disadvantages, from the point of view of providers and patients. We highlight the need to carry out an appropriate evaluation of each instance, from the point of view of both the patient and the professional who uses it.

[Conscientious objection in medical actions].

Conscientious Objection arises as a response to a regulation that is judged as immoral. Faced with a law that is considered unfair, the citizen can respond accepting it against his will, exercising conscientious objection on a personal level or, collectively reaching civil disobedience or revolutionary violence. This is an old discussion known since ancient Greece.

[Outcome of surgery for Crohn's colitis. Review of 28 cases].

Background: Exclusive involvement of the colon or rectum in Crohn's disease, called Crohn's colitis, (CC) occurs in about 25% of these patients.

Aim: To analyze early surgical results and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for CC.

Material And Methods: Review of a prospective database, identifying patients with Crohn's disease operated between 2003 and 2015 and excluding those with ileocecal disease.

[Does therapeutic privilege have a place in modern medicine?].

During the last years, bioethical discussion has highlighted the role of the patients' autonomy, being informed consent its particular expression, about decisions that they should make about their own health. The Hippocratic tradition, the deontological positions of the Geneva Declaration of the World Medical Association and numerous codes of ethics in various countries, require that the physician, above all, should ensure patients' health. In this context the discussion on pros and cons for the so-called "therapeutic privilege" are discussed.

[An ethical and medical perspective on the voluntary termination of pregnancy].

"Voluntary termination of pregnancy" can refer to actions intended to make a delivery easier, to provide medical care to the fetus, or to protect the life or health of the mother. All of these are proper medical actions and are by definition voluntary. In other cases, the expression denotes a termination of pregnancy before the embryo or fetus is viable, leading to the death of the latter.

[Some current threats to confidentiality in medicine].

Social, technical and legal conditions of the current practice of medicine make it necessary to insist on certain actions and circumstances that may jeopardize the confidentiality of information, offered by patients to their health providers. Therefore, some effects of the current Chilean law are analyzed in this respect, regarding access to data from the clinical record of a patient. Also, the risks of putting certain data on social networking sites are analyzed, as well as some of its effects on clinical practice.

[Infliximab in the treatment of patients with Crohn's disease: preliminary report].

Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6 and 1 have a pathogenic role in Crohn's disease. Infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor, is useful in the treatment of Crohn's disease, specially when the disease is active and associated to fistula formation.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of Infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease.