Medical Ethics: The Questions of Right and Wrong in Health Care

Ethics is the study of the principles of right and wrong, and there is hardly an area of medicine without an ethical side. Some of the questions it raises:

• End-of-life care. Should a patient be given nutrition? What about advance directives and orders not to resuscitate?
• Abortion. When does life begin? Is it ethical to end a pregnancy because of a birth defect?
• Genetic and prenatal testing. What happens if you carry a gene for a defect? What if testing shows that your unborn baby has one?
• Birth control. Should it be available to minors?
• Stem cells. Is it ethical to harvest embryonic stem cells to treat disease?
• Organ donation. Must a person donate an organ to a sick relative?
• Health information. Who has access to your medical records?
• Patients' rights. Do you have the right to refuse treatment? Is it ethical for your doctor to keep information from you or your family?

Sources

• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "Medical Ethics." https://medlineplus.gov/medicalethics.html
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.