09 Bioethics Free Online FlashCards

What does bioethics examine?

Bioethics examines moral questions raised by medicine, biology, and health policy, including how decisions affect patients, families, communities, and future generations.

What does deontology emphasize in bioethics?

Deontology emphasizes duties and rights. For example, a clinician should respect a capable patient’s choices even when another option seems likely to produce a better medical outcome.

How does consequentialism assess an action?

Consequentialism evaluates actions by their effects. In resource allocation, decision-makers might compare which option is likely to prevent the most serious harm.

What is the focus of virtue ethics?

Virtue ethics focuses on the character and judgment of the people involved, including qualities such as honesty, compassion, fairness, and practical wisdom.

What three principles does the Belmont Report identify?

The Belmont Report names respect for persons, beneficence, and justice as influential principles for research ethics.

What makes clinical informed consent meaningful?

Informed consent is an ongoing communication process, not just a signed form. It covers benefits, important risks, reasonable alternatives including no treatment, and a chance to ask questions.

Who decides if a patient lacks capacity for a choice?

Consent must be voluntary, and the patient must have decision-making capacity for that choice. If capacity is lacking, an appropriate surrogate may decide using the patient’s known wishes and values where possible.

May a capable patient refuse life-sustaining treatment?

A patient with decision-making capacity may refuse or request discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment, even if death may follow.

What is the purpose of an advance directive?

An advance directive records a person’s preferences for a time when they may be unable to communicate. A surrogate can help interpret those preferences or consider the person’s best interests when wishes are unknown.

Are withholding and withdrawing treatment morally different solely because of action versus omission?

Medical ethics does not generally treat withholding and withdrawing treatment as morally different solely because one is an omission and the other an action. The patient’s wishes, likely benefits and burdens, and goals of care matter.

What ethical questions can assisted reproductive technologies raise?

IVF, donor gametes, and gestational surrogacy can help people build families. Ethical questions include informed choice, health risks, embryo storage and disposition, parental responsibilities, and the interests of children.

Why does heritable genome editing raise special ethical concerns?

Heritable genome editing could affect future generations who cannot consent, with risks that are difficult to predict. Ethical concerns include safety, equity, and the boundary between preventing disease and selecting or enhancing traits.