Medical Ethics: MedlinePlus

Medical Ethics: MedlinePlus



A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health

The field of ethics studies principles of right and wrong. There is hardly an area in medicine that doesn't have an ethical aspect. For example, there are ethical issues relating to

• End of life care: Should a patient receive nutrition? What about advance directives and resuscitation orders?
• Abortion: When does life begin? Is it ethical to terminate a pregnancy with a birth defect?
• Genetic and prenatal testing: What happens if you are a carrier of a defect? What if testing shows that your unborn baby has a defect?
• Birth control: Should it be available to minors?
• Is it ethical to harvest embryonic stem cells to treat diseases?
• Organ donation: Must a relative donate an organ to a sick relative?
• Your personal health information: who has access to your records?
• Patient rights: Do you have the right to refuse treatment?
• When you talk with your doctor, is it ethical for her to withhold information from you or your family?

Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life

09/25/2014 10:37 AM EDT

Source: Institute of Medicine - PDF
Related MedlinePlus Page: Medical Ethics

Organ Transplantation

09/25/2014 10:37 AM EDT

Source: Hastings Center
Related MedlinePlus Page: Medical Ethics

• Overviews

  • What Is Ethics in Research and Why Is It Important?(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

• Latest News

  • Ethicists Grapple with Tough Questions Over Release of Ebola Drugs(08/11/2014, HealthDay)

• Specific Conditions

  •  Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life(Institute of Medicine) - PDF
  • Psychiatric Advance Directives: Getting Started(National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives)
  • Treatment Decision Issues(Beth Israel Medical Center, Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care)
  • Your Genes, Your Choices(American Association for the Advancement of Science)

• Related Issues

  • Artificial Nutrition (Food) and Hydration (Fluids) at the End of Life(National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) - PDF
  •  Organ Transplantation(Hastings Center)
  •  Placebos - What Your Doctor Is or Isn't Saying(InteliHealth, Harvard Medical School)
  • Research Ethics Timeline (1932-Present)(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)
  • Surreptitious DNA Testing(Genetics and Public Policy Center)
  •  Use of Opiates to Manage Pain in the Seriously and Terminally Ill Patient(American Hospice Foundation)
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• Journal Articles

  References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
  • Article: "We want the code to articulate what it means to...
  • Article: Legal and ethical implications in the evaluation and management of...
  • Article: Too much information--the ethics of self-disclosure.
  • Medical Ethics -- see more articles
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• Organizations

  • Hastings Center
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• Law and Policy

  • Genetic Discrimination(National Human Genome Research Institute)
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• Seniors

  • End of Life Care(AGS Foundation for Health in Aging)
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Related Topics

• Health System
• Personal Health Issues
• Social/Family Issues