Justice, in the sense of fair adjudication between conflicting claims, is held to be relevant to a wide range of issues in medical ethics. Several differing concepts of justice are briefly described, including Aristotle's formal principle of justice, libertarian theories, utilitarian theories, Marxist theories, the theory of John Rawls, and the view--held, for example, by W.D. Ross--that justi...

Should doctors advertise their services? That is the question addressed in this issue by Dr Richard Colman (1) who was advised by the General Medical Council (GMC) that his proposal to advertise his holistic medical practice in local newspapers would not be acceptable under the GMC guidelines on advertising. Dr Colman attempted to have the GMC's ruling overturned by the High Court on the ground...

At Southampton Medical School students in the third year of the course (the first clinical year) spend one morning a week in general practice. Discussion of patients' problems with students often encompasses ethical issues, and for some time we have been aware of our inability to provide any clear framework for an informed debate. Our students get some formal teaching in ethics, but not until t...