Professional Ethical Values Research Articles

The role of professional societies: Codes of conduct and their enforcement

In discussions of professional standards and ethical values it is reasonable to consider who will develop the codes of conduct and guidelines for behavior that will reflect the standards and values of the community. Also worthy of consideration is whether the standards or guidelines are enforceable, and how and to what extent they will be enforced. The development of guidelines or professional codes of conduct is a responsibility that has been adopted by many professional societies. Useful to this discussion is an examination of the rationale behind the development of ethical codes by professional societies. The Ethics in Science Committee of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) has examined the codes of some of its member societies and some observations regarding them are pertinent. The nature and uses of ethical statements, codes and guidelines developed by professional societies are multiple and diverse. Their enforcement raises both practical and ethical concerns.

Issues in ethics: discarding doctors

The cases described illustrate a disturbing trend in medicine today, one that raises ethical issues about professional ethical values and the health care system that determines whether they will flourish or not. These cases illustrate failures of the peer review system in medicine, a quality control procedure that allows the profession to discipline members who are not meeting medical standards. For these physicians peer review was misused, removing competent physicians for primarily financial rather than medical reasons. Dr. Patrick was an economic competitor of the Astoria Clinic, Dr. Hillsman had sued his hospital for wrongful discharge, and Dr. Reid's investigations threatened the economic security of Oak Ridge, which has an extensive nuclear industry. The reputations and careers of the accused physicians were severely damaged, not because they were bad doctors but because they threatened the economic interests of others. With the growth of managed care and other arrangements designed to cut health care costs, economic pressures on physicians will increase and one can expect to see a corresponding growth in abusive peer review. >

Professional decisions and ethical values in medical and law students

Professional decisions and ethical values in medical and law students