short but informative

1. Ethics, Law and Bioethics

2. Ethics
Ethics:
A code of moral standards of human conduct for what is “good” and
“right” as opposed to what is “bad” and “wrong”.
Rightness or wrongness of human conducts is usually determined by social
and cultural values in which he/she belongs to. People have tendencies to
rationalize unethical behavior.
Ethics seeks to determine what a person should do, or the best course of
action and provides reasons why. It also helps people decide how to behave
and treat one another and what kinds of communities would be good to live
in.
Example: Child labor is unethical. But in context of Bangladesh, child labor is
not unethical.

3. Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are:
1.Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning and reference of
moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be
determined
2.Normative ethics, concerning the practical means of determining a
moral course of action
3.Applied ethics, concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted)
to do in a specific situation or a particular domain of action

4. Ethical Questions in Modern Healthcare
In modern healthcare and research, value conflicts arise where
often there appears to be no clear consensus as to the “Right
thing to do.” These conflicts present problems requiring
moral decisions, and necessitates a choice between
two or more alternatives.
Examples:
• Should a parent have a right to refuse immunizations for his or
her child?
• Does public safety supersede an individual’s right?

5. • Should children with serious birth defects be kept alive?
• Should a woman be allowed an abortion for any reason?
• Should terrorists be tortured to gain information possibly saving
hundreds of lives?
• Should health care workers be required to receive small pox
vaccination?
• Who should get the finite number of organs for transplantation?

6. Laws
Laws
Laws are societal rules or regulations that are obligatory to observe.
Laws protect the welfare and safety of society, resolve conflicts and are
constantly evolving.
Laws may be derived from social norms and customs. When social norms
and customs are universally accepted, it becomes laws. Man sets laws to
maintain suitable environment in the society. If someone violates any laws,
he/she will get punished. Laws must carry social values ,otherwise it is
abrogated like “sotidah protha”.
Again every laws is not subject to ethics. Such as driving on left side of the
roads is not ethics but laws. Similarly ethics doesn’t always deal with laws.
While treating patients, severe injured patient should be treated first – it is
ethical , but not laws.

7. Comparison between Law and Ethics
• Law, ethics, and bioethics are different but related
concepts.
• Laws are mandatory to which all citizens must adhere or
risk civil or criminal liability.
• Ethics relate to morals and help us organize complex
information and competing values and interests to
formulate consistent and coherent decisions.

8. Bioethics
Bioethics: “a field of study concerned with the ethics and philosophical implications of certain
biological and medical procedures, technologies, and treatments, such as organ transplants,
genetic engineering, and care of the terminally ill”.
The term “bioethics” was used for the first time by Potter, a biologist in 1970 .Later, Helleger used
the term to refer to a way to approach and resolve the moral conflicts raised by modern medicine
(Gracia, 2001).
Bioethics is a major area in applied ethics, related to the development of biotechnological
advancement.

9. Main Topics in Bioethics
• Death and dying
• Pre-birth Issues
• Issues in human reproduction
• Human cloning
• Stem cell research
• Genetically modified food

10. Principles of Bioethics
• RESPECT for people’s rights
• Autonomy
• Dignity
• BENEFICENCE: Benefits must be proportionate to risks
• Potential harm = potential good
• JUSTICE: The even distribution of benefits and risks throughout
society
• NONMALEFICENCE: Do no harm
• Experiment must stop if causes harm.