The biética is the branch of ethics that aims to provide the guiding principles of human behavior in the biomedical field. Etymologically from the Greek bios and ethos: "life ethic" applied ethics human life and not human.
In the context of life sciences, bioethics is very similar to the moral questions that arose after the Second World War the prospect of the powerful and terrible nuclear weapons capable of destroying mankind, as to the limits that society would ultimately impose on the development of science in its projection technology. Likewise, the interest in this field has increased considerably since the decipher the human genetic code and raised new possibilities and new perspectives emerged scientific manipulation of nature. Within the vast field of bioethics issues as fit diverse as the release into the environment of compounds based on recombinant DNA technology, biomedical sciences and the war, research and children, sexual ethics, suicide, the policy of mandatory birth control and dehumanization and institutionalization of care.
The bioethical principles are general principles of ethics, which acquire a special modulation in accordance with certain characteristics typical of the area of \u200b\u200bactivity taking place.
The four principles outlined by Beauchamp and Childress in 1979 are:
Principle of autonomy
Principle of respect for those who impose the obligation to ensure the conditions necessary to act independently. Autonomy implies responsibility and is an inalienable right, even for a sick person. An autonomous person has the capacity to act, power to prosecute fairly the scope and meaning of their actions and accountable for their consequences.
The principle of autonomy is mandatory and should be respected as a rule, except when there are situations where people can be non-autonomous or submit a diminished autonomy (minors, persons in a vegetative state or brain damage, etc..) be necessary in this case to justify why there is no autonomy or why it is decreased. In medicine, informed consent is the ultimate expression of this principle of autonomy, making a patient's right and duty of the physician, as the preferences and values \u200b\u200bof the patient are paramount from the ethical and assumed that the objective the physician is to respect this autonomy because it is the patient's health.
Principle charitable
Obligation to act on behalf of others, to promote their legitimate interests and eliminating prejudice. In medicine, promotes the best interest of the patient but without taking into account the views of it. Assumes that the doctor has the training and knowledge that the patient lacks, so it knows (and therefore, decide) what is best for it. That is to say "everything for the patient but without him."
A first obstacle to analyzing this principle is that rejecting the patient's opinion, the first involved and affected by the situation, regardless of their opinion due to lack of medical knowledge. However, individual preferences of physicians and patients may disagree about what is prejudice and what is beneficial. It is therefore difficult to defend the primacy of this principle, because if medical decisions are made from it, leaving aside other valid principles such as autonomy and justice.
nonmaleficence principle
intentionally refrain from actions that may cause damage or harm others. Is a valid ethical everyone, not just in the biomedical field but in all sectors of human life. In medicine, however, this principle must find a proper interpretation for medical interventions sometimes harm so that good. So what is it not unnecessarily harm others. The analysis of this principle goes hand in hand with charities, to prevail on injury benefit.
principle of justice
Treat each one as consistent with the purpose of reducing inequality situations (biological, social, cultural, economic, etc.). In our society, even in health equality between all men is only an aspiration, it is intended that all are less unequal, so that there is an obligation of equal treatment of equals and unequals unequally to reduce situations of inequality.
The principle of justice we can unfold in two: a formal principle (equal treatment of equals and unequals unequally) and a material principle (determining the relevant characteristics for the distribution of health resources: personal needs , credit, property, personal effort, etc.).
public policies are designed according to certain material principles of justice. In Spain most healthcare of the population is based on individual insurance companies contracted with private health care.
