Author/Editor     Premik, M
Title     Mejniki v razvoju medicinske etike
Translated title     Milestones in the development of medical ethics
Type     članek
Source     Zobozdrav Vestn
Vol. and No.     Letnik 56, št. 1
Publication year     2001
Volume     str. 27-31
Language     slo
Abstract     Different periods in the history of mankind were associated with different moral values. These were reflected in written and unwritten codes of conduct which were followed by doctors treating their patients. A survey of medical ethics from the origin of the Hippocratic oath until today shows that some classical elements have been preserved to the present, and that some ethical principles carried different weight at different times. Hippocratic ethics, as a reflection of one of many philosophical schools in ancient Greece, was widely accepted only in the Middle Ages with the spread of medical paternalism. The period of Enlightenment introduced into medical ethics the concept of equality. In the second half of the 20th century, after the atrocities of World War II, human right was established as the dominant concept. Recently, as a result of the rapid social development on one hand and the growing impact of technology on medicine on the other, physicians and other health care providers often find themselves in a situation where they must decide between two or more conflicting ethical principles (e.g. doctor's good intention vs. patient's freedom of choice). These developments, along with comprehensive patient care, call for a different approach to medical problems than was used in the past and again place medical ethics at the centre of medical study and research.
Descriptors     ETHICS, MEDICAL
HELSINKI DECLARATION
LEGISLATION, MEDICAL
HISTORY OF MEDICINE
HIPPOCRATIC OATH