Medpedia

Medical Ethics is involved in the practice of medicine, general issues of healthcare and medical research particularly with the respect to the use of human subjects.

Medical ethics looks at medical practice in terms of conflicts of interest, adherence to the established ethical principles and criteria for professional behavior. It deals with clinical ethical consultation, decision-making and the resolution of conflicts between the stakeholders.

Regarding healthcare, amongst other factors, the ethical principle of justice in how healthcare is distributed and practiced is of concern.

Regarding medical research conflicts of interest, considering patients as subjects and not objects in experiments, informed consent and safety of human subjects are important.

Many ethical dilemmas have already been resolved but medical practice and experience is always changing and there arise both new cases yielding ethical dilemmas and old cases which need reevaluation with those changes.