The ethical principles that apply in clinical practice are autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance and justice (Tay and Au Eong, 2010). Autonomy or self-determination is the right of the individuals to make their own decisions regarding their medical treatment on the basis of informed consent (e.g: wearing contact lenses or undergoing refractive corneal surgery). The principle of beneficence obl...

Until about thirty years ago, the extent of disclosure about and consent-seeking for medical interventions was influenced by a beneficence model of professional behaviour. Informed consent shifted attention to a duty to respect the autonomy of patients. The new requirement arrived on the American scene in two separate contexts: for daily practice in 1957, and for clinical study in 1966. A confu...

Complex social and economic forces have placed patient autonomy at the center of medical ethics, and thereby displaced an older ethic of physician beneficence. This development arose, and is sustained, by waning trust in the traditional doctor-patient relationship. As patients have increasingly become clients and consumers, a contract basis for medical care has put the ancient covenant of care ...

This paper examines the principle of beneficence in the light of moral and epistemological concerns that have crystallized in the South African context around clinical care. Three examples from the South African experience affecting the development of bioethics are examined: medical colonialism, the death in detention of Steve Biko, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Michael Gelfand's book [(1948). The...

Throughout the history of dialysis, four bioethical principles - beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy and justice - have been weighted differently based upon changing forces of technologic innovation, resource limitation, and societal values. In the 1960s, a committee of lay people in Seattle attempted to fairly distribute a limited number of maintenance hemodialysis stations guided by conside...

BACKGROUND Public-private mix (PPM) can supplement public sector initiatives, including public health. As National Tuberculosis Control Programmes around the world embrace PPM, conforming to the four key principles of partnership values of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and equity as espoused by the World Health Organization can provide a useful framework to guide successful implementa...

the discussion between general practitioners (gps) and healthcare delivery organizations necessitates a common language. the presentation of the 4 types of gp’s activities, opens dialogue but can lead to possible misunderstandings between the micro- and macro-level of the healthcare system. this commentary takes 4 examples: costs reduction by p4, priority of beneficence or nonmaleficence, role ...