Medical ethics and health law
Principles, consent and dilemmas of medical practice.
134 pages
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- PrincipleBeneficenceBeneficence is the duty to act for the patient's good: prevent, cure, relieve and help
- LawAdvance directives (Documento de Voluntad Anticipada)A document in which a capable person writes down which treatments they accept or refuse if they…
- TopicAbortion in girls and adolescentsIn Colombia a girl or adolescent may decide on abortion herself; if she is under 14, the…
- TopicConsent in emergencies and the exceptions to consentIn a life-threatening emergency, with the patient unable to decide and no surrogate available…
- TopicAllocating scarce resources and triageWhen there is not enough for everyone, resources are shared by fair, public criteria: need…
- ProcedureBreaking bad news: the SPIKES protocolSPIKES puts giving bad news into six steps: prepare, explore, ask, inform, respond to emotion…
- TopicClinical equipoise and placebo controlsA trial is ethical if experts do not know which treatment is better; placebo is used only when…
- TopicCan a doctor refuse a patient? The duty to treatIn an emergency a doctor must always treat; outside one, a doctor may withdraw only for the…
Areas
- Foundations of bioethics37 pagesBeneficence · Ethical theories in brief: duty, consequences, virtue, casuistry, care · Ethics and law: why legal is not always ethical
- End of life and donation14 pagesAdvance directives (Documento de Voluntad Anticipada) · Artificial nutrition and hydration at the end of life · Brain death: the ethical and legal criteria in Colombia
- Sexual and reproductive health13 pagesAbortion in girls and adolescents · Contraception and sexual rights of adolescents · Embryo research, stem cells and cloning
- Autonomy and consent12 pagesConsent in emergencies and the exceptions to consent · Consent in minors: progressive autonomy in Colombian law · Decision-making capacity (competence) and how to assess it
- The health system and the right to health12 pagesAllocating scarce resources and triage · Fair opportunity and discrimination in health care · Global health and justice
- Confidentiality and truth-telling11 pagesBreaking bad news: the SPIKES protocol · Fidelity and dual loyalty · Genetic information: testing, confidentiality and relatives
- Research ethics11 pagesClinical equipoise and placebo controls · Informed consent in research · Research abuses that changed the rules: Tuskegee, Willowbrook, Guatemala
- Ethics in clinical practice10 pagesCan a doctor refuse a patient? The duty to treat · Conflicts of interest and relations with industry · Conscientious objection in health care
- Practising medicine in Colombia7 pagesAn ill, substance-impaired or incompetent colleague: what to do · Ley 1164 de 2007: health workforce · Ley 23 de 1981: the Colombian medical ethics law
- Certificates and mandatory reporting4 pagesMandatory reporting: public health, violence and abuse · Medical certificates: sick leave, death and medico-legal reports · The sick-leave certificate for non-occupational illness (Decrees 1427 of 2022 and 2126 of 2023)
- Medical records and data3 pagesLey 1581 de 2012: personal data in health · Resolución 1995 de 1999: the medical record · The electronic health record: Ley 2015 de 2020
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About this section
The principles and rules behind medical practice: the four principles of bioethics, informed consent, confidentiality, breaking bad news, end-of-life decisions and research ethics. With Colombia's legal framework (Law 23 of 1981, the Statutory Health Law, medical records, personal data, tutela and the Constitutional Court's rulings), each norm linked to its official text.
Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.