Biomaterial Database

Good and not so good medical ethics. 2015

Rosamond Rhodes

In this paper, I provide a brief sketch of the purposes that medical ethics serves and what makes for good medical ethics. Medical ethics can guide clinical practice and biomedical research, contribute to the education of clinicians, advance thinking in the field, and direct healthcare policy. Although these are distinct activities, they are alike in several critical respects. Good medical ethics is coherent, illuminating, accurate, reasonable, consistent, informed, and measured. After this overview, I provide specific examples to illustrate some of the ways in which medical ethics could go wrong as a caution and a reminder that taking on the role of an ethicist involves serious responsibilities that must be exercised with care.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004992	Ethics, Medical	The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.	Medical Ethics
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D017041	Ethics Committees	Committees established by professional societies, health facilities, or other institutions to consider decisions that have bioethical implications. The role of these committees may include consultation, education, mediation, and/or review of policies and practices. Committees that consider the ethical dimensions of patient care are ETHICS COMMITTEES, CLINICAL; committees established to protect the welfare of research subjects are ETHICS COMMITTEES, RESEARCH.	Institutional Ethics Committees,Regional Ethics Committees,Committee, Ethics,Committee, Institutional Ethics,Committee, Regional Ethics,Committees, Ethics,Committees, Institutional Ethics,Committees, Regional Ethics,Ethics Committee,Ethics Committee, Institutional,Ethics Committee, Regional,Ethics Committees, Institutional,Ethics Committees, Regional,Institutional Ethics Committee,Regional Ethics Committee
D028662	Principle-Based Ethics	An approach to ethics that focuses on theories of the importance of general principles such as respect for autonomy, beneficence/nonmaleficence, and justice.	Principlism,Ethic, Principle-Based,Ethics, Principle-Based,Principle Based Ethics,Principle-Based Ethic