Ethics in Health Care

Ethics in Healthcare

“I swear to fulfill to the best of my ability and judgment this covenant:” The first lines of an oath taken by a group of people who, for centuries, we have trusted with our lives. But should we? How much trust should we put into another human being when it comes to life and death? The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history and was written in around the 4th century BC. It has been rewritten and translated many times in order to suit different cultural ethics and values. New physicians are required to take this oath and refer to it throughout their medical career. It is meant to be used as a reference when doctors must make ethical decisions. When many people think about the Hippocratic Oath, the phrase “First, do no harm” comes to mind. But in fact this phrase is nowhere to be found in the original oath or any of its later versions. When it comes to major healthcare decisions such as life support, mercy killing, abortion, and even medications, doctor’s ethics and values play a significant role.

In 2008, Canada issued guidelines to govern how and when doctors should be able to decide it clinically appropriate to discontinue life support efforts on a patient. It is now outlined as to when it is acceptable to continue or to withhold treatment on an individual who can or cannot fully recover, partially recover, or not at all cerebral function that will allow them to achieve awareness of self or their surrounding environment. The benefits of these guidelines are for the families of the patients who do not have a health directive for end of life care. The family then does not have to make the choice to “Pull the plug”. This also means that the guidelines could go against the religious or personal beliefs of the families. Should the value of someone’s life or ethical beliefs be regulated?

Euthanasia is another term for mercy killing. The definition is the act or practice of ending the life of an...