“BIOETHICS”

III. CONCEPT OF HUMAN ACTS

Human Acts are the concern of morality.

Parameters to determine the human act is morally good:

a. The act must be good in itself;
b. The act must be good in its end;
c. The circumstances other than the end must be good.

The following are factors that affect human acts: (1) Knowledge,
(2) Freedom, and (3) Voluntariness.
Absence of any of the three factors will not qualify an act as
human act (actus humanus) but rather an act of human (actus
hominis).

Coverage:
I. Healthcare Providers
a. Pathologist
b. Medical Technologist
c. Laboratory Technician

II. Duties, Responsibilities and Rights of Patients

A. Duties & Responsibilities:
 to uphold his own health
  to protect the health of others
 of truthfulness
 of compliance

B. Rights of Patients
 Right to Life
Ex: Principle of no abortion; Provisions against euthanasia,
assisting suicide and criminal negligence resulting to deaths.

 Right to Health
Ex: Curative, humane and palliative medical treatment;
equality, accessibility and affordability of med. procs./
treatments.

 Right to Privacy
Ex: Informed consent, Principle of No-Coercion in receiving
medical treatment and participating in research, confidentiality
rule, access to records

 Right to Free Excercise of Religion

Ex: Refusal to medical intervention on the basis of religious
belief

 Right to Leave
Ex: Prohibition to Hospital detention and involuntary servitude

III. Values and Dignity of Human Beings

Concepts:
1. Human dignity is the founding value of human rights
2. Every human being must be accorded with highest respect and
care.
3. Preservation and protection of life from the time of conception
until death.

IV. Negligence and Malpractice

Negligence Imprudence

Failure to pay proper attention Failure to take the necessary

and to use due diligence in precaution to avoid injury to
foreseeing the injury or damage person.
impending to be caused.

Indicates a deficiency of Indicates a deficiency of action.

perception.

Involves lack of foresight. Involves lack of skill.

Malpractice – failure of the healthcare provider to meet the standard

of care demanded by his/her profession, or deviates from this
standard, and causes injury to the patient.
Elements of Malpractice:
1. Duty
2. Breach
3. Injury
4. Proximate cause
“Res Ipsa Loquitur” - "the thing speaks for itself."
i. the accident was of a kind that does not ordinarily occur
unless someone is negligent;
ii. the instrumentality or agency that caused the injury was
under the exclusive control of the person charged; and
iii. the injury suffered must not have been due to any
voluntary action or contribution of the person injured.

Cases against a medical technologist:

A. Administrative case
B. Civil case
C. Criminal Case

~Fin~