Sulaymaniyah Polytechnic University

Technical College Of Applied Sciences

Medical Laboratory Science
*First stage – Second Semester
*Medical Ethics Report

Introduction To Medical Ethics

Supervisor: Prepared By:

M. Hardi Rafat Baqi Khushkan Mohammed Mahmood

(2019_2020)
Contents:
❖ Abstract: .............................................................................................................................................. 1
❖ Introduction: ....................................................................................................................................... 1
❖ Basic values of medical ethics ............................................................................................................ 3
❖ Medical professionalism ..................................................................................................................... 4
❖ Code of ethics and code of Medical Laboratory Science Conduct ................................................. 5
❖ Good Clinical Laboratory Practice ................................................................................................... 7
❖ Medical ethical issue ........................................................................................................................... 8
❖ References: ......................................................................................................................................... 10
 Introduction To Medical Ethics
❖ Abstract:
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and
related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer
to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy, non-
maleficence, beneficence, and justice. Such tenets may allow doctors, care providers, and
families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal. It is important to
note that these four values are not ranked in order of importance or relevance and that they all
encompass values pertaining to medical ethics. However, a conflict may arise leading to the need
for hierarchy in an ethical system, such that some moral elements overrule others with the
purpose of applying the best moral judgement to a difficult medical situation.

❖ Introduction:
Some commonly key of concept about ethics and their definition:

o Ethical reasoning

Ethical reasoning pertains to the rights and wrongs of human conduct. Each person has standards
that are defined by their personal values which come into play when the person faces certain
dilemmas or decisions.

o Ethical behavior

Ethical behavior is characterized by honesty, fairness and equity in interpersonal, professional

and academic relationships and in research and scholarly activities.

o Ethical practice

Ethical practice can be regarded as good technical practice accompanied by proper attitudes and
behavior. In deciding what is proper, reference is often made to moral values voluntarily
adhered to within the community and to standards espoused in various codes of professional
ethics.

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o Unethical

Unethical term is used to describe ethics in its negative form when, for instance, a person's
character or behavior is contrary to admirable traits or the code of conduct that has been
endorsed by one's society, community or profession.

o Honesty and truth-telling

The communication of information in ways that are believed to be truthful and that are not
intended to deceive the recipient. It can be thought of as a virtue in health professionals and also
as a prerequisite for a respect for patient self-determination.

o Benefit and harm

To do good and avoid harm are among the oldest exhortations in medicine. Often in medicine
though the good can only be achieved at the risk of harm. Medical interventions are ordinarily
justified where the anticipated benefits exceed the harms. There can be disagreement about how
benefit and harm are interpreted. A patient can be harmed for example by having life-saving
treatment that she rejects being imposed upon her.

o Confidentiality
A respect for the confidences of patients is central to good medical practice. The right of adult
patients to control their private information is linked to the principle of self-determination. The
consequences of not respecting confidences could include patients withholding relevant
information and a loss of trust in the medical profession

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 ❖ Basic values of medical ethics

Bioethicists often refer to the five basic principles of health care ethics when evaluating the
merits and difficulties of medical procedures. Ideally, for a medical practice to be considered
"ethical", it must respect all four of these principles: Autonomy, Justice, Beneficence, Non-
maleficence, and Dignity. The use of reproductive technology raises questions in each of these
areas.

o Autonomy
Requires that the patient have autonomy of thought, intention, and action when
making decisions regarding health care procedures. Therefore, the decision-making
process must be free of coercion or coaxing. In order for a patient to make a fully
informed decision, she/he must understand all risks and benefits of the procedure and
the likelihood of success. Because ARTs are highly technical and may involve high
emotions, it is difficult to expect patients to be operating under fully-informed
consent.

o Justice

The idea that the burdens and benefits of new or experimental treatments must be distributed
equally among all groups in
society. Requires that procedures uphold the spirit of existing laws and are fair to all players
involved. The health care provider must consider four main areas when evaluating justice: fair
distribution of scarce resources, competing needs, rights and obligations, and potential conflicts
with established legislation. Reproductive technologies create ethical dilemmas because
treatment is not equally available to all people.

o Beneficence

Requires that the procedure be provided with the intent of doing good for the patient
involved. Demands that health care providers develop and maintain skills and knowledge,
continually update training, consider individual circumstances all patients, and strive for net
benefit.

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o Non-maleficence
Requires that a procedure does not harm the patient involved or others in society. Infertility
specialists operate under the assumption that they are doing no harm or at least minimizing harm
by pursuing the greater good. However, because
assistive reproductive technologies have limited success rates uncertain overall outcomes, the
emotional state of the patient may be impacted negatively. In some cases, it is difficult for
doctors to successfully apply the do no harm principle

o Dignity
There is some evidence within healthcare that one's health can actually improve and that one can
cope better with illness when one is valued and treated with respect. Therefore, promoting
dignity can lead to a better quality of life.

❖ Medical professionalism

Medical professionalism is a belief system about how best to organize and deliver health care,
which calls on group members to jointly declare (“profess”) what the public and individual
patients can expect regarding shared competency standards and ethical values, and to implement
trustworthy means to ensure that all medical professionals live up to these promises.

How Does Professionalism Work?

For medical professionalism to function effectively there must be interactive, iterative and
legitimate methods to debate, define, declare, distribute, and enforce the shared standards and
ethical values that medical professionals agree must govern medical work. These are publicly
professed in oaths, codes, charters, curricula, and perhaps most tangible, the articulation of
explicit core competencies for professional practice (see, for example, the ABMS/ACGME Core
Competencies). Making standards explicit, sharing them with the public, and enforcing them, is
how the profession maintains its standing as being worthy of public trust.

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❖ Code of ethics and code of Medical Laboratory Science Conduct

The Code of Ethics describes the expected ethical obligations and principles that patients, the
profession and the public believe will guide the professional and personal conduct of all medical
laboratory technologists (MLSs). These principles can be thought of more as exhibited
behaviors than the knowledge and skills listed in a Standards of Practice document.

The Code of Ethics, along with the Standards of Practice, defines professionalism in the practice
of medical laboratory technology. MLSs adhere not only to the guidelines, but also to the
underlying spirit and precepts.

A medical laboratory technologist’s fundamental responsibility is to manage the prescribed

medical laboratory services for patients in an effort to improve their health. MLSs have
professional obligations to work collaboratively with colleagues and other healthcare providers
to deliver professional services.

The Code of Ethics will

o Promote an MLS’s recognition of the professional and personal conduct expectations for
medical laboratory technology practice.
o Represent the minimum standards of professional behavior and ethical conduct expected
of all MLSs.
o Apply to MLSs at all times in all dimensions of professional and personal conduct,
including technical and nontechnical fields such as education, administration, quality
assurance, and research.

The ethical obligations and principles are not listed in order of importance. They should be
balanced against each other and considered in relation to all of the obligations and principles
described by the Code of Ethics. Over time, it will evolve in response to regulatory, legal, and
ethical expectations and will be adopted only after stakeholder consultation. Legislation,
regulations, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and practice guidelines collectively establish a
framework for the practice of ethical and safe medical laboratory technology.

• Ethical Obligations

Medical laboratory technologists demonstrate an application of their ethical obligations through

their professional and personal conduct.

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• Obligations to Patients

Medical laboratory scientist put their patient(s)’ interest(s) above their personal interest(s). MLSs
carry out their professional duties competently and with integrity. They respect their patients’
individual needs and overall welfare at all times, including the patients’ right to freedom of
choice in health care provider, free and enlightened consent, and an expectation of
confidentiality of all patient information, in accordance with existing legislation.

• Obligations to the Public

Medical laboratory scientist are dedicated to serving the public’s health care needs through
respectful, accessible, and cooperative interactions with the public and patients, other healthcare
providers, and students. MLSs facilitate awareness and understanding of the medical laboratory
technology profession.

• Obligations to the Profession

Medical laboratory scientist contributes to the profession’s development through collaboration,

mentorship, self-development, and support of its institutions. MLSs strive for excellence in their
professional practice, and professional and personal conduct through life-long learning. Medical
laboratory technologists recognize, disclose, and resolve conflicts of interest to safeguard patient
care.

• Obligations to the Regulatory Body

Medical laboratory scientist understands, respect and comply with provincial Acts and
regulations, and the Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, and practice guidelines approved by
their regulatory body. Medical laboratory scientist cooperates and maintain harmonious relations
with, and promptly reply to all correspondence from the regulatory body at all times.

Obligations to Oneself

Medical laboratory scientist are accountable and responsible for their professional and personal
conduct. MLSs practice within their scope of professional competence and recognize their
professional and personal limitations. Medical laboratory technologists maintain and improve
their knowledge, skills, judgement and behaviors to ensure the best possible patient care.

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• Ethical Principles
Medical laboratory technologists demonstrate the following ethical principles through the
medical laboratory technology services delivered, either alone or in collaboration with a
multidisciplinary team, and any services rendered under the MLTs’ direction and supervision.

❖ Good Clinical Laboratory Practice

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is an international ethical and scientific quality standard for
designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials that involve the participation of human
subjects. Compliance with this standard provides public assurance that the rights, safety and
well-being of trial subjects are protected, consistent with the principles that have their origin in
the Declaration of Helsinki (ICH GCP Guideline).
Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) is intended to promote the quality and validity of test data. It
is a managerial concept covering the organizational process and the conditions under which
laboratory studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded and reported (OECD GLP
Guideline).
Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) applies those principles established under GLP
for data generation used in regulatory submissions relevant to the analysis of samples from a
clinical trial. At the same time it ensures that the objectives of the GCP principles are carried out.
This ensures the reliability and integrity of data generated by analytical laboratories.
It is recognized that a number of countries are already applying the GCLP principles to the
analysis of clinical trial samples. Indeed it is possible within some of these countries for clinical
laboratories to be accredited by the National Monitoring Authority. Some organizations and
indeed countries operate proficiency testing schemes to which laboratories subscribe. While
these ensure the integrity of the analytical process, they may not assure compliance with GCP.
This document is intended to provide a unified framework for sample analysis to lend credibility
to the data generated and facilitate the acceptance of clinical data by regulatory authorities from
around the world. It is important to recognize that the framework outlined in this document will
be applied across a diverse set of disciplines involved in the analysis of samples from clinical
trials. It is therefore important to understand that this framework should be interpreted and
applied to the work of those organizations that undertake such analyses with the objective of
assuring the quality of every aspect of the work that they perform

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❖ Medical ethical issue

Every day, patients, families and healthcare professionals face ethical and legal
decisions. These difficult dilemmas may concern medical treatments, practices,
hospital management and other matters that arise in the healthcare industry. Ethical
issues in healthcare can require an immediate response, such as making decisions
for patients when they are not able to do so, or can involve a prolonged, carefully
considered decision, such as the debate over the right to abortion or assisted
suicide. The actions taken in ethical issue s in healthcare clearly distinguish between
what is right and wrong, and often, many of the actions taken today can have lasting
effects on healthcare in the future.

There are numerous ethical challenges clinical leaders, health practitioners and
patients face in healthcare. Some examples of common medical ethical issues
include:

1. Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

The protection of private patient information is one of the most important ethical
and legal issues in the field of healthcare. Conversatio ns between a physician and a
patient are strictly confidential, as is information about an individual’s medical
condition. Specific provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, or HIPAA, define exactly what information can be rele ased and
to whom.

2. Transmission of Diseases
The recent global outbreak of the Ebola virus put a renewed emphasis on the right
of healthcare providers to protect themselves from communicable diseases, whether
by direct or indirect contact with an infecte d patient. Ethical and legal questions
arise when a patient’s health history is not provided to the medical staff.

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3. Relationships
Sexual relationships between medical practitioners and patients or between medical
staff are strictly forbidden at a healthcare facility. Sexual harassment can be
harmful to all involved, including the facility, so the code of ethics should be
explicit about this.

4. End-of-Life Issues
Terminally ill patients may have specific wishes about the way they want their lives
to end. Families may struggle with the decision to end life support for a loved one.
Healthcare practitioners and clinical leaders need to be prepared to handle end -of-
life issues as well as problems encountered in dealing with elderly patients who
may not be able to make rational decisions on their own.

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❖ References:
• http://web.stanford.edu/class/siw198q/websites/reprotech/New%20Ways%
20of%20Making%20Babies/EthicVoc.htm#:~:text=Bioethicists%20often%
20refer%20to%20the,beneficence%2C%20and%20non%2Dmaleficence.
• https://www.abms.org/media/84742/abms-definition-of-medical-
professionalism.PDF
• https://www.nscmlt.org/public-protection/medical-laboratory-technologist-
code-of-ethics
• https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/documents/gclp-web.pdf
• http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ethical-
behavior.html#:~:text=Acting%20in%20ways%20consistent%20with,dign
ity%2C%20diversity%20and%20individual%20rights.
• https://www.abms.org/media/84742/abms-definition-of-medical-
professionalism.PDF
•
https://l.messenger.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bma.org.uk
%2Fadvice-and-support%2Fethics%2Fmedical-students%2Fethics-
toolkit-for-medical-students%2Fkey-principles-of-ethics-for-medical-
students&h=AT3vTtJA41pr4lSL2DUZkJoTl2-
BeyLiKm9u1sgle9VngnR5iM7P0zG3mnfGIwT_tlsER86VIdNaW1AJix
1_qlVgVM7yCwetUpLVPZ9o1csHCHoEhw511Ftpln8JlAQ2XpiW

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