Medical ethics is a system of moral principles guiding medical practice, emphasizing respect for patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. It addresses dilemmas around patient care, including truth-telling, informed consent, and resource allocation, while differentiating between ethics (external rules) and morality (personal principles). Clinical medical ethics aim to improve patient outcomes by navigating ethical and legal issues in healthcare.

1. Medical ethics

2. What is Ethics?
• Ethics is a system of moral principles. They
affect how people make decisions and lead
their lives.
• Ethics is concerned with what is good for
individuals and society and is also described as
moral philosophy.

3. ETHICS ARE NOT …
• Ethics is not the same as feelings
• Ethics is not religion
• Ethics is not following the law
• Ethics is not following culturally
accepted norms
• Ethics is not science

4. Ethics Dilemmas
Ethics covers the following dilemmas:
• How to live a good life
• Our rights and responsibilities
• The language of right and wrong
• Moral decisions - what is good and
bad?

5. What is Medical Ethics?
Medical ethics is a system of moral
principles that apply values and
judgments to the practice of
medicine.

6. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL ETHICS
1.respect for patient autonomy.
2.Not inflicting harm on patients.
3. Positive duty to contribute to
the welfare of patients .
4.Justice or fair treatment of
patients.

7. Autonomy
• Patient has freedom of thought, intention
and action when making decisions
regarding health care procedures
• For a patient to make a fully informed
decision, she/he must understand all risks
and benefits of the procedure and the
likelihood of success.

8. Beneficence
• The practitioner should act in “the best
interest” of the patient - the procedure be
provided with the intent of doing good to
the patient

9. • This needs health care provider to,
- develop and maintain skills and
knowledge by continually updating
training
- consider individual
circumstances of all patients

10. Non maleficence
• “Above all, do no harm,“ – Make sure
that the procedure does not harm the
patient or others in society

11. Justice
• The distribution of scarce health
resources, and the decision of who gets
what treatment “fairness and equality”
• The burdens and benefits of new or
experimental treatments must be
distributed equally among all groups in
society

12. Medical ethics
• Concerns issues related to practice of
medicine
• Explores and promotes principles guiding
conduct of health care professionals
• Involves the consideration of others in deciding
how to act
• It is applied ethics. It consists of the same moral
principles and rules that we would appeal
to ,and argue for, in ordinary circumstances.

13. CLINICAL MEDICAL ETHICS
• Is a practical and applied discipline that aims
to improve patient care and patient outcomes
by focusing on reaching a right and good
decision in individual cases.
• It focuses on the doctor-patient relationship
and takes account of the ethical and legal
issues that patients, doctors, and hospitals
must address to reach good decisions for
individual patients.

14. THE CONTENT OF CLINICAL ETHICS
INCLUDES
1. Truth-telling,
2. Informed consent,
3. End Of Life Care,
4. Palliative Care,
5. Allocation Of Clinical Resources,

15. THE CONTENT OF CLINICAL ETHICS INCLUDES
6. The Ethics Of Medical Research.
7. The study of the doctor-patient relationship,
including such issues as
8. Honesty,
9. Competence, Integrity,
10. Respect For Persons.

16. Ethics and Morality, What are they?
• The terms ethics and morality are often used
interchangeably - indeed, they usually can
mean the same thing, and in casual
conversation there isn't a problem with
switching between one and the other.
• However, there is a distinction between them
in philosophy!

17. Ethics and Morality What are they?
Ethics and morals both relate to “right”
and “wrong” conduct.
However, ethics refer to the series of rules
provided to an individual by an external
source. e.g. their profession.
On the other hand, morals refer to an
individual’s own principles regarding
right and wrong.

18. Comparison chart
Ethics
• Social system – External
• Why we do it?
• Because society says it is
the right thing to do.
• What if we don't do it?
• We may face peer/societal
disapproval, or even be
fired from our job.
Moral
• Individual – internal
• Why we do it ?
.Because we believe in something
being right or wrong.
• What if we don't do it?
Doing something against one's morals
and principles can have different
effects on different people, they
may feel uncomfortable, remorse
depressed etc.

19. COMPARISON CHART
Ethics
• Acceptability
• Ethics are governed by
professional and legal
guidelines within a
particular time and place
Moral
• Acceptability
• Morality transcends cultural
norms

20. Medical malpractice
• An act or omission by a health care
provider that deviates from accepted
standards of practice in the medical
community which causes injury to the
patient.

21. • Physicians are obligated not prescribe
medications they know to be harmful.
• Some interpret this value to exclude the
practice of euthanasia
• Violation of non-maleficence is the
subject of medical malpractice litigation