Presented to : Dr Maqsood Ul Hassan Brig (R)

Presented by : Dr Saeeda Bano

PG : Microbiology ( Semester 1)

Subject : Medical Ethics

Topic : Critical Analysis of PMDC Code of Conduct, AMA,

Hippocratic oath

Assignment No : 2

Critical Analysis of PMDC Code of Conduct, AMA, Hippocratic Oath.

PMDC Code of Conduct.

PART-I
PRILIMINARY
Short title and commencement
PART II
GENERAL
Declaration before registration
Duties of physicians in general.
 Duties of Physicians to the Sick.
 Duties of Physicians to each other.
 Medical Ethics and religion.
 Practice of medicine, surgery and dentistry prohibited without registration etc. with
Council
 Display of registration numbers.
 . Rational use of drugs.

PART III
TEACHING ETHICS TO STUDENTS
PART IV
EXPECTATIONS

 Council's expectations.

PART V
FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF PATIENT--
PHYSICIAN RELATIONSHIP
 Rights of the Patient.
 Rights of the medical or dental practitioner
PART VI
ETHICAL STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL
COMPETENCE, CARE AND CONDUCT

Statement to patients and their relatives or representatives.

Examination, consultation or procedures on a female patient.
Assistance of unregistered person prohibited.
 Prisoners

Permission of patient before examination

Care
Details of information
Maternity care.
Competence.
Treatment without direct patient contact
Confidentiality.
Conflicts of interest
Dealing with conflict of interest.
Advertising.
Certificates, reports and other documents
Informed Consent
Medical and dental students
Taking of photographs or videos for teaching purposes.
Adoption.
Leader of the medical or dental team.

PART VII

PROFESSIONAL FEE AND TIMINGS

Rebates and Commission

Communication with Patients.

PART VIII
RESEARCH ETHICS AND CONSENT
Research Ethics and Consent

Decisions of national bio-ethic committee and declaration of Helsinki.

Organ Transplantation and Consent --

PART IX
MISCELLANEOUS
End-of-life care
Genetics in Medicine
PART X
PUNISHMENT AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Other misconduct

PART XI

MATTERS RELATING TO PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Accepting gifts, inducements, or promotional Aids
Drug Samples
Meetings, conferences, and hospitality
Endorsement.
Medical Research

PART-XII
REPEAL: The Code of Ethics made by the Council in its 98th meeting at Karachi on 24th and
25th August 2002 and any regulation in these matters made earlier are hereby repealed.

AMA CODE OF MEDICAL ETHICS

The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily
for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize
responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals,
and to self. The principles adopted by the American Medical Association are not laws, but
standards of conduct that define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician

Principles of medical ethics

I. A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical care, with compassion and
respect for human dignity and rights.
II. A physician shall uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional
interactions, and strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in
fraud or deception, to appropriate entities.

III. A physician shall respect the law and also recognize a responsibility to seek changes in those
requirements which are contrary to the best interests of the patient.

IV. A physician shall respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals,
and shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the constraints of the law.

V. A physician shall continue to study, apply, and advance scientific knowledge, maintain a
commitment to medical education, make relevant information available to patients, colleagues,
and the public, obtain consultation, and use the talents of other health professionals when
indicated.

VI. A physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free
to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide
medical care.

VII. A physician shall recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to the

improvement of the community and the betterment of public health.

VIII. A physician shall, while caring for a patient, regard responsibility to the patient as
paramount.

IX. A physician shall support access to medical care for all people.

The Hippocratic Oath

The Hippocratic Oath is the oldest and most widely known treatise on medical ethics. It requires
new physicians to swear by numerous healing gods and dictates the duties and responsibilities of
the physician while treating patients. There are two versions of the Hippocratic Oath: the original
one and the modern one. The need for a revision was felt as drastic procedures like abortions
& surgeries became commonplace and medically valid, questioning a physician’s morals anew.
The Classic Hippocratic Oath: The important content regarding sick people is.
With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my
judgment and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.
Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I
counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman,
with a view to destroy the child.
Further, I will comport myself and use my knowledge in a godly manner.
I will not cut for the stone but will commit that affair entirely to the surgeons.
Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and advantage of the
patient; and I will willingly refrain from doing any injury or wrong from falsehood, and (in an
especial manner) from acts of an amorous nature, whatever may be the rank of those who it may
be my duty to cure, whether mistress or servant, bond or free.
Whatever, in the course of my practice, I may see or hear (even when not invited), whatever I
may happen to obtain knowledge of, if it be not proper to repeat it, I will keep sacred and secret
within my own breast.
The Revised Hippocratic Oath “I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this
covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly
share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps
of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and
understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say, "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills
of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world
may know.
Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life,
all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be
faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.
Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being,
whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes
these related problems if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow
human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with
affection thereafter.
Conclusion: PMDC code of conduct provides certain regulations for both the medical and
dental practitioners. It includes the Declaration before registration. That each applicant makes at
the time of making an application for registration with the Council, shall submit a declaration
that he has read, understood, and agreed to abide by these regulations given . It includes the
duties of physicians in general and also the duties of the physicians to sick as well. Duties of
physicians to each other also included. It also emphasizes the respect of the beliefs of the patients
too. This code of conduct is quite comprehensive that covers the specialty recognition of the
practitioners, rational use of drugs, teaching ethics of students, doctors patients relationship
addressing the rights of both doctors and the patients, treatment lines for the prisoners,
professional fees and timing, research ethics and consent, organ transplantation and consent and
matters related to pharmaceutical industry. The thing that is missing is the implementation that
cannot be possible unless there is a mechanism to monitor and to have check and balance.
Otherwise, there is no effectiveness of this comprehensive document. The AMA code of conduct
includes almost all points included in PMDC code of conduct which are important for providing
better care to patients and securing the rights of both physicians and patients. The classical Oath
of Hippocratic involves the triad of the physician the patient and God, while the revised version
involves only the physician and the patient, reliving the Gods of a few responsibilities.