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210523P - INTRODUCTION: THEORY AND PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS

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Presentation at a workshop on Week I: Bioethics Module - CRC Program held at King Fahad Medical City via Zoom on 23 May 2021 at 13:00-14:00 pm by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics, King Fahad Medical City


 

 

EUROPEAN ETHICAL THEORIES:
 Utilitarian consequence-based theory (balance of good and bad)
 Obligation-based theory (moral obligations)
 Rights-based theory based on respect for human rights (individual rights)
 Community-based theory (community decides)
 Relation-based theory (family and physician-patient relations)
 Case-based theory (practical case by case decision)

 

EUROPEAN ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (BEAUCHAMP AND CHILDRESS 1994):
 Autonomy (patient decides)
 Beneficence (bring benefit)
 Non maleficence (do no harm)
 Justice (equity vs equality)

 

ALTERNATIVE ETHICAL THEORY (PURPOSES OF MEDICINE):
 Protection of Morality, hifdh al ddiin
 Protection of Life, hifdh al nafs
 Protection of Progeny, hifdh al nasl
 Protection of the Mind, hifdh al ‘aql
 Protection of Wealth / resources, hifdh al maal

 

ALTERNATIVE ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (PRINCIPLES OF MEDICINE):
The Principle of Intention (actions are judged by the intentions behind them), qasd
 The Principle of Certainty (no action is taken in extreme uncertainty), yaqiin
 The Principle of Injury (medical intervention should cause no injury), dharar
 Principle of Hardship (in case of difficulty the usual legal restrictions are relaxed), mashaqqat
 The Principle of Custom or Precedent (follow usual procedures unless there is evidence to the contrary), urf

 

DISCLOSURE AND TRUTHFULNESS:
 Obligation to Tell the Truth (doctors should not lie to patients)
 What is Disclosed (full disclosure unless there is a valid reason)
 Partial Disclosure and White or Technical Lies
 Disclosures to Others about the Patient (not generally allowed without patient consent)
 Giving Bad News

 

PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY:
 Privacy
 Confidentiality
 Medical Records
 Release of Confidential Information

 

FIDELITY:
 Definition of Fidelity
 Conflicts Regarding Fidelity