Doing right in the everyday care of patients
Caring for patients is not only a clinical endeavor, it is also an ethical one. Patient care and ethics are woven together as an integral part of every doctor-patient encounter. Medical schools have traditionally taught students the principle-based ethics approach of autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance, and justice. These abstract principles are often applied to “big” patient care situations, such as physician-assisted suicide, organ transplantation, and withholding/withdrawing treatment. The life and death …
