"One main purpose of medical ethics is to analyze the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research."
Exploring the ethical issues involved in health care decision-making, such as patient autonomy, confidentiality, and informed consent.
Autonomy: The respect for a person’s ability to make their own decisions about their healthcare.
Beneficence: The principle of doing good and taking actions that promote the welfare of patients.
Non-maleficence: The principle of avoiding harm and preventing harm to patients.
Justice: The principle of fairness and treating patients equitably, regardless of their race, gender, age, etc.
Informed Consent: The process of getting a patient's consent before performing a medical procedure or treatment.
Confidentiality: The protection of a patient's medical information and privacy.
End of Life Care: The ethical considerations surrounding end-of-life decisions, such as palliative care and euthanasia.
Organ Donation: The ethical considerations surrounding organ donation, including consent, allocation and distribution, and the distribution of organs.
Reproductive Rights: The ethical considerations surrounding reproductive health, including access to contraception, abortion, and surrogacy.
Medical Research: The ethical considerations surrounding medical research, including informed consent, animal and human testing, and the use of experimental treatments.
Medical Error: The ethical considerations surrounding medical error, including disclosure, apology, and accountability.
Medical paternalism: The ethical considerations surrounding making decisions in the best interest of the patient even if that means going against their wishes.
Medical Malpractice: The ethical considerations surrounding medical malpractice, including professional responsibility and liability.
Disability and Discrimination: The ethical considerations surrounding disabled individuals and the discrimination they face in healthcare and society as a whole.
Global Health and Justice: The ethical considerations surrounding health care disparities between countries and the global response to pandemics or epidemics.
Public Health: The ethical considerations surrounding the management and prevention of disease outbreaks and environmental health hazards.
Healthcare access and allocation of resources: The ethical considerations surrounding healthcare access and allocation of resources, especially in low-income areas.
Physician Assisted Suicide: The ethical considerations surrounding physician-assisted suicide, which is legal in some states and countries.
Gene Editing: The ethical considerations surrounding gene editing using CRISPR Cas9 to eliminate, replace or alter the genes in the human genome.
Medical experimentation: The ethical considerations surrounding medical experimentation and its use in helping to shape and monitor public health policy.
Autonomy: The ethical principle that states that a person has the right to make decisions about their own healthcare without interference from others.
Non-maleficence: The principle that healthcare professionals should not cause harm to their patients in any way, either through action or inaction.
Beneficence: The principle that healthcare professionals should act in the best interests of their patients, and work to bring about positive outcomes for their health.
Justice: The principle that healthcare resources should be allocated fairly and distribute efficiently to all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status.
Fidelity: The principle that requires healthcare professionals to uphold their duties of care to their patients, and maintain the trust and confidence of their patients and the public.
Veracity: The principle that healthcare professionals should be truthful and open in their interactions with patients and their families, and communicate accurate information regarding the patient's condition and treatment.
Respect for persons: This principle requires that healthcare professionals respect the autonomy of their patients and treat them with dignity, regardless of their views, beliefs, or lifestyle choices.
Confidentiality: This principle requires healthcare professionals to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of their patients' health information, strictly adhering to patient confidentiality and data protection laws.
Informed consent: This principle requires healthcare professionals to obtain the informed consent of their patient, which means that they must communicate accurate information about the patient's condition and the risks and benefits of any proposed treatment options.
Duty of care: This principle requires healthcare professionals to provide a standard of care that is appropriate and reasonable for the patient's condition, and to handle their medical records and care with reasonable skill and competence.
"These values include the respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice."
"It is important to note that these four values are not ranked in order of importance or relevance."
"Such tenets may allow doctors, care providers, and families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal."
"A conflict may arise leading to the need for hierarchy in an ethical system, such that some moral elements overrule others with the purpose of applying the best moral judgment to a difficult medical situation."
"The Hippocratic Oath, The Declaration of Helsinki, and The Nuremberg Code are well-known and respected documents contributing to medical ethics."
"Roe v. Wade in 1973 marked an important development in medical ethics."
"The development of hemodialysis in the 1960s was an important milestone in the history of medical ethics."
"New techniques for gene editing aiming at treating, preventing and curing diseases raise important moral questions about their applications in medicine and treatments as well as societal impacts on future generations."
"These techniques remain controversial due to their association with eugenics."
"The focus remains on fair, balanced, and moral thinking across all cultural and religious backgrounds around the world."
"The field of medical ethics encompasses both practical application in clinical settings and scholarly work in philosophy, history, and sociology."
"Medical ethics encompasses beneficence, autonomy, and justice as they relate to conflicts such as euthanasia, patient confidentiality, informed consent, and conflicts of interest in healthcare."
"Different cultures implement ethical values differently, sometimes placing more emphasis on family values and downplaying the importance of autonomy."
"This leads to an increasing need for culturally sensitive physicians and ethical committees in hospitals and other healthcare settings."
"Medical ethics is particularly relevant in decisions regarding involuntary treatment and involuntary commitment."
"The Hippocratic Oath discusses basic principles for medical professionals and dates back to the fifth century BCE."
"The field of medical ethics encompasses practical application in clinical settings as well as scholarly work in philosophy."
"New techniques for gene editing raise important moral questions about their applications in medicine and treatments as well as societal impacts on future generations."
"Ethical committees play a role in addressing culturally sensitive issues and ethical conflicts in hospitals and other healthcare settings."