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deals with moral issues in medical practice. Medical ethics is closely
related, but not identical to bioethics(biomedical ethics). Whereas
medical ethics focuses primarily on issues arising out of the practice
of medicine, bioethics is a very broad subject that is concerned with
the moral issues raised by developments in the biological sciences
more generally. Bioethics also differs from medical ethics insofar as it
does not require the acceptance of certain traditional values that are
fundamental to medical ethics.
Ethics and medical research
Importance of medical research
Medicine does have many general principles that are valid most
of the time, but every patient is different and what is an effective
treatment for 90% of the population may not work for the other 10%.
Thus, medicine is inherently experimental. Even the most widely ac-
cepted treatments need to be monitored and evaluated to determine
whether they are effective for specific patients and, for that matter, for
patients in general. This is one of the functions of medical research.
Another, perhaps better known, function is the development of
new treatments, especially drugs, medical devices and surgical tech-
niques. Great progress has been
made in this area over the past
50 years and today there is more
medical research underway than
ever before. Nevertheless, there
are still many unanswered ques-
tions about the functioning of
the human body, the causes of
diseases (both familiar and novel
ones) and the best ways to prevent or cure them. Medical research is
the only means of answering these questions.
All physicians make use of the results of medical research in
their clinical practice. To maintain their competence, physicians must
keep up with the current research in their area of practice through
Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Professional Development
programs, medical journals and interaction with knowledgeable col-