DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD ROMUALDEZ MEDICAL FOUNDATION, INC.

COLLEGE OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Principles of Medical Laboratory Science 1

Lesson 3: ETHICS

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: ETHICS MORALITY
 discuss human existence in relation to ethics; What are they? The rules of conduct Principles or habits with
 identify schools of ethics; and recognized in respect to a respect to right or wrong
 explain the concept of professional ethics particular class of human conduct. While morals also
actions or a particular prescribe do’s and don’ts,
group or culture morality is ultimately a
personal compass of
right and wrong
ethics
o the basic concepts and fundamental principles of decent human conduct Origin Greek word “ethos” Latin word “mos”
meaning “character” meaning “custom”
o the moral code that guides how an individual should behave
Where do they External: Social system Internal: Individual
o deals with moral principles come from?
o the individual’s search for meaning while dealing with human problems Why do we do it? Because society says it is Because we believe in
which may be logical (problems of reasoning), cosmological (problems of the right thing to do something being
universe), ethical (problems of morality), aesthetical (problems of art and right or wrong
beauty), or scientific (problems of science) Acceptability Ethics are governed by Morality transcends
professional and legal cultural norms
guidelines within a
particular time and place

Schools of Ethics

ETHICS MORALITY
Theoretical prescriptions/critiques Based on principles practiced by a ethical relativism
 The nature of the good particular community o also known as, “moral relativism”
 The nature of human person  Fundamental convictions of
o a school of ethics anchored on the principle that morality is relative to a
 Criteria of judgment human agent
 Character of moral agent particular culture or society
 Use of norms
o acknowledges societal diversity: that every society has a unique moral design
 Situational analysis
and culture
(James Gustafson, 1974)
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o the normative claim that what is really right or wrong is what a culture says ethical utilitarianism
is right or wrong o founded by two English philosophers:
 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
o the doctrine that there are no absolute truths in ethics and that what is  John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
morally right or wrong varies from person to person or from society to
society o states that the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by their
consequences

Problems o “Actions are good insofar as they tend to promote happiness, bad as they tend
1. The mere fact that a culture believes a practice is correct does not to produce unhappiness. The utility or usefulness of an action is determined
make it correct. by the extent to which it promotes happiness rather than its reverse.” (Mill)

2. Its implication to individual’s moral beliefs that if the rightness or

wrongness of an action depends on a society’s norm, one must
obey such norms and to diverge from them is to act immoral.
Moral Issues
3. The strongest argument against ethical relativism would be to
defend universal norms.
abortion
o the ending of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus
o it can be direct, induced, or even caused by natural cases or accidents

ethical pragmatism o an abortion that occurs without intervention is known as miscarriage or

o a philosophical approach or movement that began in the 1870 “spontaneous abortion”
o coined by Charles Sanders Peirce and further developed by William James o “induced abortion” when deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy
o considered as America’s most distinctive and major contribution to the field o for anti-abortion groups: abortion is the ultimate violation of life for it is the
of philosophy act of killing an individual that is not yet able to speak for himself or herself
o more of a theory of knowledge, truth, and meaning rather than morality o for those who support: they believe that pregnant women, especially victims
of rape, should be given the chance to decide among themselves
o the basis of ethics here is not rights or virtue of goodness, but rather
pragmatist approach ethics from a problem-solving point of view o considered illegal in the Philippines
o what one believes to be ethical today may not necessarily be ethical 1987 Philippine Constitution
tomorrow
Article II, Section 12: The state recognizes the sanctity of life and shall
protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social
institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life
of the unborn from conception.

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euthanasia Genetic Interventions

o “mercy killing” a merciful release of an individual from an incurable sickness  directed modification of the gene complement of a living organism by such
o the practice of ending a life intentionally, usually in situations when the techniques as altering the DNA, substituting genetic material by means of a
individual is terminally ill, to relieve him or her of pain and suffering virus, transplanting whole nuclei, transplanting cell hybrids, etc.

o the process of inducing the painless death of a person who is severely

debilitated for reasons assumed to be merciful, either through voluntary, non-
voluntary, or involuntary means Stem-Cell Therapy
 also known as regenerative medicine, it promotes the repair response of
 voluntary euthanasia: when an individual gives consent to subject himself diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissue using stem cells or their derivatives
or herself to a painless death
 it is the next step in organ transplantation and uses cells instead of donor
 non-voluntary euthanasia: when the permission of the patient to perform organs
the process is unavailable, such as in the case of patient in a deep coma,
or neonates born with significant and major birth defects
 involuntary euthanasia: when the individual does not give his or her
consent

genetic engineering
o involves genetic manipulations that are perceived to be against moral
standards set by the society
o some procedures involved in genetic engineering:
 genetic screening
 genetic interventions
 stem-cell therapy
 in vitro fertilization

Genetic Screening
 a procedure whose main purpose is to screen, choose, and select the genes
for proper detection of any genetic disease and other chromosomal
malformations (Ciabal, 2003)

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In-Vitro Fertilization
 “laboratory fertilization” a method of assisted reproduction in which a man’s
sperm and a woman’s eggs are combined outside the body in a laboratory
dish
 one or more fertilized eggs (embryos) may be transferred to the women’s
uterus, where they may implant in the uterine lining and develop -. end of lesson 3 -

Professional Ethics

o Professional ethics covers the morally accepted behavior of individuals in the

workplace.
o The code of ethics of a particular profession serves as the guiding principle in
the ethical practice of a profession.
o Professional ethics guide individuals in dealing with issues and conflicts in
the workplace in order for them to remain functional.

- end of lesson 3 -

- end of lesson 3 -

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