ABSTRACT
An important strategy for delving into the dynamics of the physician–patient relationship is consideration of the “rights” of patients versus the professional obligations of physicians. Three such issues have received significant attention from social scientists, clinicians, and medical ethicists. The term ethics is derived from the Greek word “ethos” and the Latin word “mores”. Ethics is a field of study that helps to “define what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of duties that people owe themselves and one another”. Stemming in part from criticism of the Nazi medical experiments, many medical ethicists, clinicians, and others adopted an approach called principlism that based morality of conduct on its consistency with well-considered moral principles. Some critics of the emphasis on principlism in medical ethics contend that a new approach that gives much more attention to social context is needed.
