Bioethics Basics

"[Bioethics] is the interdisciplinary study of ethical, legal, and social issues arising in the life sciences and health care."

- The Hastings Center

Principles of Bioethics

Respect for Autonomy

The principle of respect for autonomy requires that the capacity of rational agents to make intentional, informed, and voluntary decisions be respected. This principle is the basis for informed consent in research and medical practice.

Nonmaleficence

The principle of nonmaleficence requires that physicians, researchers, and biotechnology not inflict intentional harm or injury onto patients or research subjects.

Beneficence

The principle of beneficence requires that health care providers take positive steps to prevent patient harm.

Justice

The principle of justice requires the fair distribution of resources. This principle can be thought of in the words of Aristotle as "giving to each that which is [his/her] due."

Beauchamp, T. L. & Childress, J. F. (1994). Principles of Biomedical Ethics (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

The Nuremberg Code

In response to the heinous and inhumane experiments performed in Nazi concentration camps, the Nuremberg Military Tribunal established a ten-point code to prevent future human rights violations in 1947. The Nuremberg Code, as it was called, was key to establishing early guidelines for ethical clinical research practices.

The University of North Carolina. (2017, May 1). Nuremberg Code. UNC Research. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://research.unc.edu/human-research-ethics/resources/ccm3_019064/