Ethics, liabilities and licensing to practice / Ética, responsabilidades y autorización de licencias para la práctica médica

Medical Councils or Boards are the de facto gatekeepers of the work of medical doctors and their interaction with the public. This article examines some of the ethical and medico-legal issues that may arise when biomedical doctors are not licensed in a particular year to practice medicine. It scrutinizes pertinent sections of the Medical Act of Jamaica and considers the ethical implications of the particular predicament for patients and pharmacists who are requested to fill prescriptions written by doctors who are not in receipt of a practising certificate at the time.

Las Juntas Médicas son de hecho salvaguardas del trabajo de los doctores de medicina y su interacción con el público. El presente artículo examina algunos de los problemas éticos y médico-legales que pueden surgir cuando los doctores biomédicos no poseen licencia en un año en particular para practicar medicina. El trabajo examina cuidadosamente las secciones pertinentes del Acta Médica de Jamaica, y hace consideraciones sobre las implicaciones éticas de la difícil situación particular de los pacientes y farmacéuticos a quienes se les pide llenar prescripciones escritas por doctores que al momento de hacerlo, no han recibido todavía un certificado de autorización para la práctica.

Issues in bioethics: ethics in health policy and guidelines in healthcare / Problemas de bioética la ética en la política de salud y en las orientaciones de la atención a la salud

The development of policies in health and healthcare should incorporate ethical premises as well as thoughtful consideration of the values pertinent to the particular society and the goals to be achieved by specific policies. Social inequalities, changing values, and emergent challenges to traditional beliefs, add complexities that require a thorough analysis to compile policies that are fair and equitable. This article provides some recommendations for clinicians, health administrators, policy makers and technocrats who often grapple with complex health issues.

El desarrollo de las políticas de salud y atención a la salud deben incorporar premisas éticas, así como consideraciones sopesadas en relación con los valores pertinentes a la sociedad en cuestión y a las metas a alcanzar mediante tales políticas específicas. Las desigualdades sociales, los valores cambiantes, y los desafíos emergentes frente a las creencias tradicionales, añaden complejidades que exigen un análisis exhaustivo a fin de adoptar políticas que sean a la par justas e equitativas. Este artículo ofrece algunas recomendaciones para los médicos clínicos, los administradores, los responsables de trazar políticas, y los tecnócratas, quienes a menudos tienen que vérselas con complejos problemas en el área de la salud.

Issues in bioethics. Teaching research ethics

All research should meet the highest ethical and scientific standards, and so persons who may be involved in conducting research should be fully conversant with the relevant ethical principles of biomedical research and its requirements. Further, scientists, academicians, physician-researchers, student-researchers, and members of research ethics committees should be able to distinguish between therapy and research, evaluate risk and benefit, be sensitive to various forms of conflicts of interest, and be fully aware of the special provisions necessary for vulnerable populations. This article recommends a number of subject areas that should be addressed as a part of this academic process

Issues in bioethics. Ethics and professional responsibilities

The evolution of ethics in medicine has provided the concept of the learned physician who is trained in the scientific method (studying nature and philosophy), and who is wise, modest and humane. The physician's manner, deportment and character should be above reproach, and devotion to the productive art of medicine should supersede any desire for financial gain. Professionalism provides the organizational structure through which the medical doctor performs his/her healing role, and underscores the concept that medical professionals should be moral and devoted to the public good, displaying altruism at the expense of self-interest, and providing accountability. This article examines some of the obligations that arise within this milieu

Issues in bioethics. Teaching medical ethics to health professionals

New medical technologies, public concern about medical ethics, and the advent of numerous ethical dilemmas in healthcare have led many medical schools to increase their formal teaching of ethics. Ethical issues in healthcare may involve a complex mix of scientific, economic, social, cultural, religious, moral and legal issues. Education in medical ethics will therefore need to be on-going to accommodate changes that periodically occur in healthcare issues, policies, or the changing moral values of the society. This article proposes frameworks within which this process may occur.