Ethics in Medicine

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values to the practice of clinical medicine and in scientific research. Medical ethics allow 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 creates an obvious guideline to follow. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. These tenets allow doctors, care providers, and families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal without any conflict. It is important to note that these four values are of equal worth.

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. Over the years in 1903, 1912, and 1947, revisions have been made to the original document. The practice of Medical Ethics is widely accepted and practiced throughout the world.

There are several other codes of conduct. The Hippocratic Oath discusses basic principles for medical professionals. This document dates back to the fifth century BCE. 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. As this field continues to develop and change throughout history, the focus remains on fair, balanced, and moral thinking. Medical ethics encompasses a practical application in clinical settings as well as scholarly work on its history, philosophy, and sociology.

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.

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