ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses ethical issues in general practice research, it is difficult to define a boundary between the ethical issues particular to clinical practice and those relating to research in general practice. The ethical dimension has always been seen as an essential element in clinical practice from the time of Hippocrates, the first known writer to have placed on record an ethical standard for the medical profession. Beauchamp and Childress define autonomy as 'the form of personal liberty of action where the individual determines his or her own course of action in accordance with a plan chosen by him or herself'. But the therapeutic benefit of the doctor-patient relationship derives from the control of the physician—that is, the ethical boundary has been moved to allow the doctor to breach the autonomy of the patient. The ethical principle of justice in the allocation of resources has recently been the subject of reports from expert committees.
