Coursebook of Medical Ethics

• Introduction to medical ethics is a course that provides an understanding of medical ethics and how it is applied in clinical practice.
• The aim of the course is to systematically apply key ethical principles to ethical dilemmas in clinical practice and how they might best be dealt with.
• The course aims to increase awareness of the complexity of ethical issues by addressing key examples in clinical practice so that students learn to incorporate an ethical approach in medical practice.
• A Utilitarian approach in ethics considers that ends may justify means.
• In a Utilitarian perspective, 'duty' is usually determined by a consideration of the best outcome, i.e. ends justifying means.
• Deontology considers duties to exist independently of outcome.
• A Utilitarian approach in ethics considers whether clinicians have discharged their duties in the best interests of their patients.
• In a Utilitarian approach, 'best interest' is judged by an assessment of the greatest benefit in relation to harm.
• Ethics is an understanding of the nature of conflicts arising from moral imperatives and how best we may deal with them.
• Ethics does not decide what is morally right or wrong; rather it considers how we should act best in the light of our duties and obligations as moral agents.
• Clinicians have specific duties of care to their patients and to society.
• Clinicians should always act in the best interest of their patients, but sometimes there is a conflict between obligations to a patient and those perceived to be owed to the community or to other patients.
• It may not always be the case that what the clinician believes is in the best interest of the patient is what the patient wishes or will consent to.
• Central to modern medical ethics is a respect for patient autonomy and the fundamental principle of informed consent.
• Medical Ethics is a practical subject as well as a branch of moral philosophy.
• Duties and obligations are a crucial aspect of ethical clinical practice.
• In the case of fertility treatment and confidentiality, the doctor should apply the four major ethical considerations systematically.
• Respect for autonomy and informed consent are key principles in ethical clinical practice.
• The consequences of any given course of action should be considered in ethical clinical practice.
• The case of a Caesarean section involves different factors compared to the previous case.
• Application of principles is a crucial aspect of ethical clinical practice.
• The case of blood transfusion in neonatal intensive care involves different factors compared to the previous case.
• Consideration of categorical imperatives is a part of ethical clinical practice.
• In the case of a Caesarean section, the clinician should apply the four major ethical considerations systematically.
• The four key ethical principles of ethical clinical practice are: respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.
• The case of fertility treatment and confidentiality involves different factors compared to the previous case.
• In the case of blood transfusion in neonatal intensive care, the clinician should apply the four major ethical considerations systematically.
• Ethics is an integral part of good medical practice and is an essential branch of medicine.
• Ethics deals with the choices we make and our actions in relation to those choices.
• A clinician can withhold information which they may believe to be unnecessarily distressing, but if such information is necessary for the patient to make a reasoned decision then it should not be withheld.
• In the second case scenario, the parents request that the new treatment be given to their child as they have heard of it through research trials.
• The patient cannot make a decision unless they are properly informed.
• Clearly, this is a personal decision, not solely a clinical one, and only the patient is in a position to decide which option is best for him/her.
• A terminally ill patient may prefer a therapy which gives him a reasonable quality of life for a few months to be with his family, than a drug regime that may prolong his life for longer but may involve a greater burden of sickness.
• The specialist clinicians at the hospital do not believe there would be any significant benefit for the child and that the side-effects of the treatment can often be debilitating.
• Informed consent is an enabling process that ensures the patient understands the nature of the procedure, the risks involved, the consequences, and the alternatives.
• Informed consent requires that everything is done to ensure that the patient understands the nature of the procedure, the risks involved, the consequences, and the alternatives.
• The circumstances of each patient will be different and they may wish to make different choices about their health and lives.
• Informed consent is a matter of judgement and should be enabling for the patient.
• There are essentially two views of consent: a clinician-centred view, which is a legalistic approach to consent and considers what the clinician should tell a patient about the nature of a procedure and the risks, and a patient-centred view, which considers what is necessary to enable the patient to make an informed choice.