CURRENT ISSUE

ARISING FROM THE

APPLICATION OF
SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY

MEDICAL ETHICS

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

 LEARNING OUTCOMES

• IN THESE TOPIC WE WILL BE ABLE TO STATE THE MEANING OF

MEDICAL ETHICS;
• DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL ETHICS AND ITS
IMPORTANCE TO SOCIETY;
• IDENTIFY DIFFERENT DOCTRINES IN MEDICAL ETHICS; AND
• UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF
MEDICAL ETHICS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY.
WORD BANK:
HISTORY OF MEDICAL ETHICS
Medical Ethics:
- It is referred to a system of a moral principles that apply values to the practice of clinical medicine and in scientific
research. It also allows for people, regardless of race, gender, or religion to be guaranteed quality and principled
care. This applies to both the living and nonliving, such as medical research on cadavers. It is also known as health care
ethics or as biomedical ethics applied to the fields of medicine and health care.

• The term medical ethics first dates back to 1803, when English author and physician Thomas Percival published a
document describing the requirements and expectations of medical professionals within medical facilities. The Code of
Ethics was then adapted in 1847, relying heavily on Percival's words.

• The Hippocratic Oath discusses basic principles for medical professionals. This document dates back to the fifth century
BC. Both The Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and The Nuremberg Code (1947) are two well-known and well respected
documents contributing to medical ethics. Other important markings in the history of Medical Ethics include Roe V. Wade in
1973 and the development of Hemodialysis in the 1960s.
• Historically, Western medical ethics may be traced to guidelines on the duty of physicians in antiquity, such as the
Hippocratic Oath, and early Christian teachings. The first code of medical ethics, Formula Comitis Archiatrorum. was
published in the 5th century, during the reign of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great.

• In the medieval and early modern period, the field is indebted to Islamic scholarship such as Ishaq ibn Ali al-Ruhawi (who
wrote the Conduct of a Physician, the first book dedicated to medical ethics), Avicenna's Canon of Medicine and Muhammad
ibn Zakariya ar-Razi (known as Rhazes in the West), Jewish thinkers such as Maimonides, Roman Catholic scholastic thinkers
such as Thomas Aquinas, and the case-oriented analysis (casuistry) of Catholic moral theology. These intellectual traditions
continue in Catholic, Islamic and Jewish medical ethics.

• By the 18th and 19th centuries, medical ethics emerged as a more selfconscious discourse. In England, Thomas Percival, a
physician and author, crafted the first modern code of medical ethics. He drew up a pamphlet with the code in 1794 and
wrote an expanded version in 1803, in which he coined the expressions "medical ethics" and "medical jurisprudence".
However, there are some who see Percival's guidelines that relate to physician consultations as being excessively protective of
the home physician's reputation. Jeffrey Berlant is one such critic who considers Percival's codes of physician consultations as
being an early example of the anti-competitive, "guild"-like nature of the physician community.
• In 1815, the Apothecaries Act was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced compulsory
apprenticeship and formal qualifications for the apothecaries of the day under the license of the Society of Apothecaries. This
was the beginning of regulation of the medical profession in the UK.

• In 1847, the American Medical Association adopted its first code of ethics, with this being based in large part upon
Percival's work. While the secularized field borrowed largely from Catholic medical ethics, in the 20th century a distinctively
liberal Protestant approach was articulated by thinkers such as Joseph Fletcher.

• And lastly, in the 1960s and 1970s, building upon liberal theory and procedural justice, much of the discourse of medical
ethics went through a dramatic shift and largely reconfigured itself into bioethics.
MEDICAL ETHICS DOCTRINES
Medical Ethics Doctrines:
- The following below are the categorization of beliefs, teaching, and instructions of taught principles as in the essence of
trust system that must be possessed by the medical professional. Take note to grasp confidentiality in taking/applying
doctrines, because it is traditionally applied to conversations between doctors and patients.

• Autonomy, it refers to the rights of an individual to self-determination in a way that the patient has the right to refuse or
even to choose their treatment. This is to respect the individual's ability to decide about his/her personal matters freely and
to indicate

• For instance, in a case of a progression of many terminal diseases such as dementia, the person will be characterized by
loss of autonomy in various manners to make self-determination. This terminal disease attacks the brain and affects the
ability to make judgments, then eventually can induce memory loss and cause a decrease in rational thinking. A Registered
Clinical Psychologist and a Registered Medical Doctor Psychiatrist may be involved to support decision.

• Non-maleficence, it refers by the phrase, "first, do no harm." Many practitioner in the medical field consider that this
principle should be the primary consideration not to harm your patient, than to do them good. As always in the saying "The
treatment was success, but the patient died." In real clinical practice there are many treatments that carry some risks of
harm.
• For instance, some passionate medical practitioners are prone to using treatments that they believe will do well without
having a strict evaluation to ensure they do no harm to the patients. The physician should go no further to prescribe
medications that they know to be harmful unless she/he knows that the medication is unknown to be harmful, at the very
least. The physician should explain thoroughly the medications he/she prescribing and also that the patient understands the
risk and benefits.

• Beneficence, it refers to actions that promote well-being of others and to serve to the best interest of patients and their
families.
- For instance, the practitioner should act to the best of his knowledge and capability to serve to the best interest of
his/her patient. Some scholars in the field of Medicine argue about this principle that this is the only fundamental principle
of medical ethics and also argue that healing should be the only purpose of medicine. Because of this actions like
euthanasia and other invasive procedures are severely unethical.

• Justice, it refers to the equality and fairness in treating the patient.

- For instance, the practitioner should always treat his/her patient in independence and in honest conscience in
providing health care, deciding fairly of who gets what treatment regardless of the status of the patient in life, whether
belonging to a highly privileged or the least privileged.
OTHER DOCTRINES THAT ARE SOMETIMES
DISCUSSED INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
Respect for persons - It refers to every sick person having the right to be treated with pride and dignity.

• For instance, all of us as human being, whether in the medical setting or not, a patient and his family, and the person
treating the patient which may or may not be the doctor, has the right to be treated in full honesty at all times.

Double effect - It refers to two types of principles but which produce a single action. It is regarded as the combined effect
of beneficence and non-maleficence.

• For instance, a common example of this is when a physician orders morphine or any other analgesic for his/her patient.
The medication can have a beneficial effect in alleviating the pain while at the same time produces the effect of difficulty
in breathing through the deactivation of the respiratory system.

When two medical doctrines are in conflict, it will definitely result to ethical dilemma or crisis. Sometimes when conflict
cannot result to a good solution, a dilemma in medical ethics will surely exist and even in the values of the medical
community. Conflict can also arise between health care providers or among a patient's family members when they cannot
agree. Examples are the principles of autonomy versus beneficence like when patients refuse to blood transfusion
considering it will save life but against their religion.
ACTIVITY:

Make a slogan/poster about the importance of any of the

following:
Autonomy, Non-maleficence, Beneficence, & Justice.
THANK YOU!!!