Lecture 13

Prepared & presented by

Dr. Saad Alsouf
MBBS (Pakistan)
M.Sc. Com. Med. (Baghdad)
 Medical Ethics

The applicaton of ethical

.principles of health care
Basic Principles of Medical Ethics
1- Autonomy.
2- Benefcence.
3- Nonmalefcence.
4- Justce.
5- Confdentality.
6- Truthfulness.
7- Consent.
 Autonomy-1

This principle simply means that an

informed, adult patent can refuse or
accept treatments, drugs, and
surgeries according to their wishes.
And these decisions must be
respected by everyone, even if those
decisions aren’t in the best interest of
the patent.
 Benefcence-2

All health care providers must

strive to improve their
patent’s health, to do the most
good for the patent in every
situaton.
 Nonmalefcence-3

In every situaton, healthcare

providers should avoid causing
harm to their patents.
Examples of nonmalefcence include

1- Do not kill.
2- Do not cause pain or sufering.
3- Do not incapacitate.
4- Do not deprive others of the goods
of life.
An example is the use of morphine or
other analgesic in the dying patent.
Such use of morphine can have the
benefcial efect of easing the pain
and sufering of the patent while
simultaneously having the malefcent
efect of shortening the life of the
patent through suppression of the
respiratory system.
 Justce-4

You should try to be as fair as possible

when ofering treatments to patents
and allocatng scarce medical resources.
 Confdentality- 5
It is keeping the patent's personal health
informaton private unless consent to release the
informaton is provided by the patent.
Never disclose secrets of any patents unless

Requested by court under oath.

Never to gossip in cafeterias, corridors, elevators.
 Truthfullness- 6

Medical staf should not lie upon

patent & should always tell him
the truth about his disease &
treatment & be frank with him.
 Consent- 7

Obtaining a writen consent

from the patent before any
major operaton or procedure.
 Common controversies in medicine

These are some common controversies,

and how principles of medical ethics
are applied to help solve them:
1-Aborton.
2-Physician-assisted suicide.
3- Relief of sufering at the end of life: Some of
the drugs that relieve sufering at the end of
life can also hasten death.
4-Medical mistakes: Medical mistakes have the
potental for hurtng people.
 Medical mistakes can be avoided by

1. Learning how to prevent mistakes.

2. Openly reportng mistakes.
3. Learning from mistakes.