Ética

Ética
 Medical ethics
GMC guidelines
care = prorecring and
looking after someone The duties of a doctor regístered with the General Medical Counol indude: 1
1 Make the c.1e of your patient your tirst concern.
professional competence 4

2 Treat every iwtttent politely and consldetately. !

= le,•el of specialiied
knowledge and skills 3 Glve patients information in a way they can understand.
4 Keep your professlonal knowk?dge and skills up to date,
confidenrial = privare - :

sccret ' '

5 Recognize the limits of your professionat competence.

prejudice = have a 6 Be honest and trustworthy.

negatíve inAuence on '
7 Respect: and protect conftdential lnformation. .
1

risk = possibiliry of
s<>mcthing bad happcning
fü 10 practisc = in a
suirable condicion ro work
1 Make sore that yoor personal beliefs do not prejudice your patients'
care.
• Ad. quiddy to protect patie:nts from ri~k if you have good reason to
tlllleYe that: you or your colleague may not be tit to practiH,
1
~

Note: For a full list of the guidelines, see www.gmc-uk.org

Bioethical issues
Euthanasia
Should the medical proíession help 1he renninally ill to cnd rhcir livt'$ whcn rhcy cl.:,osc?
Gcnctic cnginccring
Should we permir an embryo ro be cloned - copied exactly - to replace a child who has died?
Should parcnts be able ro selecr rhe genetic makeup of their children to produce so-called
designer babies ?
Human fcrtiliry
IVF - in ,;tro fertilization - has madc it possiblc for iníertile women 10 have children, bur
should this include womcn long past the normal age of childbeari ng'
Embryos can be frozen and implamcd in rhe mother ar a latcr date but should this require rhe
conscnt ( >r pcrmission oi both parenrs if rhe marriage has broken down?
What are che righrs of a surrogatc mothcr, one who carries a child for a woman who is una ble
ro do so, over rhar child?
Transplant surgcry
Who should give consenr for rhe removal of body parts for transplant surgery?

Assisted dying
A medical student has madc some language nores on a journal arricle.

A 53-year old woman wtt, Incurable muscular dys110phy $ 1 ~ off = ttM.C'Je&i Í,(W!A. tke C,/v',C rte'Stlr
.Ql'\d bc:i~ s;.'N",\ ¡ . , O t ~ ~~ ,.,, tht
llew to Switzerland to end her lije, Aa9isted dyir1g is legal in
Switzerland btJt illegal in tJ>e UK. Opponents of eulhanasla.
or ·merey lólling', rugue thal legalization would load to
""'
fl"llútttw. e.Qrt = t > - ~ to rditvt.. r'4"Ó'!T
abuse and call for doctors who participate to be struck 011. til-1.\. "'"'t st:.-...~ 4
What Britain needs, UWty caim, is better paliative can, and
more hospices fo, the tennlnally ill to allow sucll patients h ~ = -O~ ¡.,t"ll\di..o\9 C+lre: ftw tt~l'DUl::I
to die wtth dignity. i.l.4.W.ll~

This follows a recent US cas& wt-.ere the husband of a temÚ."'-AUt, Ut ~ ~te:d tD ¡,,,
woman who had been in a persi_,. vegelative - ptrs.LSU~ ~ v e $tQtt v.t'.ilti.t w s.tit4~ c.-
tor 16 years was successful in having artificial feeólng
fc,~4-....- ii.l",,.;,_t uw.M.A~ dctS M: rtS¡:,c,t'4 U\
withdrawn in spite of opposítion from his wife's par"'1ts.
" ~ ~el'~i.CCol.i.tj w.M.-.LM.9{t<I 'M1ij

98 Pro(essioool English in Use Med,cine

5. 1 Which of the GMC guidelines in A opposite is breached in each of these cases?
a A GP falls aslccp regularly during consultations. His colleagucs do norhing.
b A doctor is aware that a parient has a history of violence againsr women. She infotms a friend
whose daughtcr has jusr bccome engaged ro rhis man.
e A docror arremprs ro dissuadc a paricnr from having an abortion as rhis procedure is againsr
his rcligious bcliefs.
d A doctor refers a patiem ro a medica! textbook for an explanarion of his pancreatic cancer.
e A doctor foils ro complete rhe number of days of professional developmcnt training advised
annually.
f A doctor tells a seriously overweight patient who has ignored his advice to diet thar she
deservcs any ill effecrs rhat mighr rcsulr from her obesiry.

5. 2 Match each he-adlinc ro an opcning linc from a newspaper report. Look ar B and C
opposire to help you.
1 5
66-year-old becomes oldest mother Using body parts without consent

2 6
Frozen embryo case to go to Europe U! full face transplant search on 1
3 7
Surrogate mother sued by cou~e 'Designer baby' rules are relaxed

4 8
Embryo cloning - where will it take us? Doctors back infant mereykilling
a A woman of 30 who agreed 10 bear a child fo r a childless couple rhcn rcfused to part with the
child has been .. .
b A surgeon has been accused of rcmoving organs from parients wirhout their knowledge .. .
e Three-quarrers oí llelgian doctors are wifüng ro assist in rhc dearh of critically ill babics ro cnd
thcir suffering.
d A woman hoping ro srop rhe desrrucrion of six embryos crea red wirh her cggs and her ex-
parmer's sperm launched a case at rhc Europcan Court of Human Righrs ...
e A woman has given birdl in Romania following I VF rrearmenr.
f Consultan! plasric surgeon Dr Pctcr Butlcr has been given the go-ahead by a hospir~I erhics
comrnfrtee ro find a parienr who meers selection crireria for a full facc transplant.
g lf your fovourite pcr dies, ir is rechnically possible ro produce exacr replicas - but whar abour
humans?
h Ir is now legal ro selecr embryos 10 provide blood cell 1ransplanrs fo r sick siblings.

Ove.r .f-o tjou

What an· your VÍl'W5o
'1
on assi\ll'd dying?

Pro(essional English in Use Mefüne 99

 Ética

BIBLIOGRAFÍA
• GLENDINNING, E. H. y HOWARD, R. Ethics. En GLENDINNING, E. H. y
HOWARD, R. Professional English in use (pp: 98-99). Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge, Reino Unido.1

1
Uso con fines académicos