Bioethics

How is bioethics related to ethics?

Bioethics is the study of the moral and ethical choices faced in medical research and in the treatment of patients, especially when advanced technology is involved. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, philosophy, and theology. Although scientific research has social benefits it does often pose troubling ethical questions.

The Second World War drew attention to questions of human abuse in biomedical experiments. The Nuremberg Code, which was drafted during the Nuremberg War Crime Trials is credited with starting bioethics. The code was a set of standards for judging physicians and scientists who conducted biomedical experiments on concentration camp prisoners. The National Research Act was signed on July 12, 1974. The act created the National Commission for the protection of Human subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Belmont Report, a statement of basic ethical principles and guidelines, appeared in the Federal Register in 1979.

Primary Principles

There are four primary principles that make up most moral theories; autonomy, justice, nonmaleficence, and beneficence. Autonomy emphasizes the responsibility we have for our own lives. The principle on nonmaleficence is the obligation to not harm someone intentionally. Beneficence is the positive obligation to advance the healthcare interests and welfare of others. The last one is justice; comparative and distributive. Comparative justice is receiving health care resources determined by your condition and need whether you can pay or not. Distributive justice is determined according to principles rather than individual or group need. Although the four principles approach is an useful tool, some agree that there needs to be more.

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