Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.

History

The origins of medical ethics can be traced back to the Hippocratic Oath, which is a historic text on the ethics of medical practice. The Oath, attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, laid the groundwork for the high moral and ethical standards that the medical profession strives to uphold today.

Principles

Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These are the principles of:

• Beneficence: This principle states that health care providers should do all they can to benefit the patient in each situation. All procedures and treatments recommended must be with the intention to do the most good for the patient.
• Non-maleficence: "First, do no harm" is the bedrock of medical ethics. Health care providers must strive to avoid causing harm, whether physical, psychological, social, or financial, to their patients.
• Autonomy: Patients have the right to refuse or choose their treatments. A health care provider must respect the decisions made by autonomous patients.
• Justice: The fourth principle demands that health care providers must strive to be fair and equitable in care decisions. This means striving to ensure that all patients have equal access to treatments and that similar cases are treated in a similar manner.

Issues in Medical Ethics

Medical ethics covers a broad range of issues, including:

• Informed Consent: This is the process by which the treating health care provider discloses appropriate information to a competent patient so that the patient may make a voluntary choice to accept or refuse treatment.
• Confidentiality: Health care providers have an ethical and legal obligation to protect patient information. The principle of confidentiality is an integral part of the patient-physician relationship and is essential to maintaining that relationship.
• End-of-life care: This includes decisions in the final phase of life, such as whether to initiate, withhold, or withdraw life-sustaining treatment.
• Organ donation: Ethical issues here include the definition of death, when and how consent should be obtained for organ donation, and the allocation of donated organs.

See Also

• Bioethics
• Clinical Ethics
• Research Ethics