The Ethics That Swing Between Moral And Medical Sciences

Bioethics is like the Mohnish Behl of the field of medicine. Understanding, empathetic, and always striving to do the right thing. Mainly concerned with Biology and Ethics, this discipline also considers Philosophy, Law, History and Theology while making decisions regarding Healthcare.

Below are a few points to explain Bioethics much clearly:

1. Bioethics: The study of ethical issues of health-related sciences and advances in medicine. Can AI replace doctors? Why is it more acceptable to edit plant genes than human genes? Can AI be trusted for medical surgeries? Such are the questions that fall under the focus of Bioethics.

2. Scope: It is a very vast subject, and in many cases, it is subjective. Bioethicists often experience disagreement among themselves about which rules and ethics to follow in a particular case.

3. Fundamental Principles of Bioethics: According to the Belmont Report, these are based on respect for persons, beneficence and justice. However, human dignity, non-maleficence and the sanctity of life were added to this list later on.

4. Due to the development in research and technology, humans have evolved much more. It feels like the Belmont Report needs to be revised by considering more concerns and rethinking the existing fundamentals from a different perspective.

5. A large section of bioethicists prioritize autonomy above all, which means a state of self-governing. They want the patient to choose the treatment which aligns perfectly with their set of beliefs.

6. Three Sub-disciplines of Bioethics: Medical, Animal and Environmental ethics. All three of them focus on human beings, animals, and nature, respectively.

7. Medical Ethics: It is the oldest sub-discipline of Bioethics, which deals with the ethics influencing medicine. These issues include the physician-patient relationship, organ transplantation, beginning and end-of-life issues, etc.

8. Animal Ethics: Jeremy Bentham introduced the idea that animals should also be treated ethically in the 19th century. This is since animals cannot reason, but they can suffer. And the second branch of Bioethics was formed, governing the ethical treatment of animals.

9. Environmental Ethics: It governs the moral aspect of the interaction of humans with non-human animals and plants, ecosystems, landscapes, biospheres and natural resources. Although human beings are a part of the environment, the distinction is there because humans are the only beings whose actions influence the whole of nature or a part of it.

Bioethics took the concerns like law, public policy, private decisions in critical settings, etc., into consideration ever since the term ‘Bioethics’ was introduced in 1971. It only goes on to make Bioethics an ever-evolving field whose fundamentals should be reconsidered every once in a while.