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Abstract

Ethics has been a part of medical practice since the time of Hippocrates. Recent advances in medicine and the amazing advances in technology have brought ethical issues in the forefront; the potential for human cloning, use of fetal tissues in the treatment of diseases, legalized abortion in some countries, the legalization of physician assisted suicide in some parts of the United States and the tremendous increase in the cost of treatment have placed significant moral and ethical pressure on physicians. Education in medical ethics is lacking in most countries. In the United States of America by the end of 1980 only 34% of medical schools had introduced bioethics as part of their curriculum. 1             During the clinical management of patients most of our decisions are based on medical judgment. Ethical issues arise when patients or their relatives refuse to accept these decisions, or simply cannot afford them.             How do we physicians react when confronted by such issues? Should we act only on intuition and personal biases or preferably think critically about ethical issues using sound moral and ethical reasoning?