PHL281H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Médecins Sans Frontières, World Medical Association, Bioethics
Document Summary
Hippocratic oath (~400 bc) earliest record of bioethics (what is the duty of a doctor?) Cure the sick, or at least, do not make the sickness worse. However, the hippocratic oath does not include . ** pre-1940s ( olden days ) paternalism: treat the patient like a child and make medical decisions without their input ** You go to the doctor with certain symptoms. Moral reason: adults deserve to be treated like competent decision makers. The doctor should share information and answer questions, but it"s wrong to force the patient to follow their recommendations. Beneficence - certain situations may prevent the patient from choosing for themselves: external constraints: someone or something inhibits my ability to choose for myself. I can"t afford to take time off work to go to the doctor: there"s no interpreter at the hospital to translate medical information, my wheelchair won"t fit through the doorway to the x-ray room.
