Ethics in medical laboratory practice

Despite a considerable literature relating to "ethical practice", there is very little consideration of ethics in medical laboratory science. In general, it is accepted that there are guiding principles and these are reflected in the NZIMLS "Code of Ethics". Where do these broad guiding principles come from and how might they relate to everyday ethical practice? The word bioethics is derived from the Greek words bios (life) and ethike (ethics). However, it was not the Greeks who created bioethics in the modern context, nor was bioethics concerned as it is now. In 1920 a German pastor (Fritz Jahr) defined "bio-ethike" as a compassionate attitude towards animals and plants based on scientific research. In 1970 the concept was later rediscovered by an American biochemist, Van Renslaer Potter, who defined "Bioethics' as a new science of survival He concludes:" Man's survival may depend on ethics based on biological knowledge, hence Bioethics". Today there are many definitions or concepts applied to ethics, however three simple definitions can be applied across the ethical arena. Ethics: rules of behavior based on ideas of what is morally good and bad. Bioethics: philosophical, social and legal issues arising in medicine and the life sciences. Medical ethics: moral values and judgments as applied to medicine e.g. The Hippocratic Oath taken when qualifying in medicine attributed to Hippocrates (460 to 370BC), although a more modern version is now used. While ethics is viewed as a relatively modern concept in the 19th century "medical ethics" was viewed as a process of limiting disputes and a means of limiting patient's options for alternative treatment, giving rise to the self-governing UK authority the General Medical Council.