Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021;30(1):17-28.
doi: 10.1159/000509119. Epub 2020 Jun 4.

Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice

Basil Varkey  1
Affiliations
Review

Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice

Basil Varkey. Med Princ Pract. 2021.

Abstract

An overview of ethics and clinical ethics is presented in this review. The 4 main ethical principles, that is beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice, are defined and explained. Informed consent, truth-telling, and confidentiality spring from the principle of autonomy, and each of them is discussed. In patient care situations, not infrequently, there are conflicts between ethical principles (especially between beneficence and autonomy). A four-pronged systematic approach to ethical problem-solving and several illustrative cases of conflicts are presented. Comments following the cases highlight the ethical principles involved and clarify the resolution of these conflicts. A model for patient care, with caring as its central element, that integrates ethical aspects (intertwined with professionalism) with clinical and technical expertise desired of a physician is illustrated.

Keywords: Autonomy; Confidentiality; Ethics; Informed consent; Integrated patient care model; Professionalism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Integrated model of patient care.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singer PA, Pellegrino ED, Siegler M. Clinical ethics revisited. BMC Med Ethics. 2001;2((1)):E1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carrese JA, Sugarman J. The inescapable relevance of bioethics for the practicing clinician. Chest. 2006 Dec;130((6)):1864–72. - PubMed
    1. Sulmasy DP, Geller G, Levine DM, Faden RR. A randomized trial of ethics education for medical house officers. J Med Ethics. 1993 Sep;19((3)):157–63. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Self DJ, Olivarez M, Baldwin DC., Jr Clarifying the relationship of medical education and moral development. Acad Med. 1998 May;73((5)):517–20. - PubMed
    1. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of bioethics. 7th ed. Oxford University Press; 2013.