4 Principles in Medicine

1. Autonomy
2. Beneficence
3. Non-maleficence
4. Justice
4 PRINCIPLES (observed in Medicine)

1. Autonomy
• practice, autonomy is usually expressed as the
right of competent adults to make informed
decisions about their own medical care.
• seek the consent or informed agreement of the
patient before any investigation or treatment
takes place.
• In the event patients lack the capacity to make
decisions, then the health professional in charge
of their care decides. However, adults can
appoint someone to make decisions on
• their behalf.
Two conditions are required before a
decision can be regarded as autonomous:

1. Individual (patient) has

to have the relevant
internal capacities for
self government
2. and has to be free from
external constraints.
 Principle of PATERNALISM:
 it is a type of medical decision making
in which health care professionals
exercise unilateral authority over
patients.
 It is an action performed with the
intent of promoting another’s good but
such an action occurs against the
other’s will or without the other’s
consent.
 In medicine, it refers to acts of
authority by the physician in directing
care and distribution of resources to a
patient without the latter’s permission.
 INFORMED CONSENT
 is shorthand for informed, voluntary,
and decisionally-capacitated consent.
 A full informed consent includes a
discussion of the following elements:
a. the nature of the decision/procedure
b. reasonable alternatives to the
proposed intervention
c. the relevant risks, benefits, and
uncertainties related to each alternative
d. assessment of patient understanding ;
e. the acceptance of the intervention by
the patient
4 PRINCIPLES (observed in Medicine)
2. Beneficence

• is action that is done for the benefit of

others.
• The relationship between physicians and
patients make doctors obliged to: (a)
prevent and remove harms, and (b) weigh
and balance possible benefits against
possible risks of an action.
• includes protecting and defending the
rights of others, rescuing persons who are
in danger and helping individuals with
disabilities.
4 PRINCIPLES (observed in Medicine)
3. Non-Maleficence

• means to “do no harm”

• Physicians must refrain from providing
ineffective treatments or acting with
malice toward patients
• The pertinent ethical issue is whether the
benefits outweigh the burdens. This is
why physicians need to discuss the risks
of treatment and ensure that these are
understood in light of the potential
benefits.
4 PRINCIPLES (observed in Medicine)
4. Justice
• The principle of justice could be described
as the moral obligation to act on the basis
of fair adjudication between competing
claims. It is linked to fairness, entitlement
and equality.
• In health care ethics, this can be
subdivided into three categories: fair
distribution of scarce resources
(distributive justice), respect for people’s
rights (rights-based justice) and respect for
morally acceptable laws (legal justice).