The Restoration of Medical Ethics

Abstract

Rogers, a general practitioner, deplores what he perceives as an abandonment by British physicians of general ethical standards as established by the General Medical Council (GMC), in favor of a situational ethic. He attributes this change to the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) and to the effects of an increasingly permissive society. Physicians have been turned into public servants involved in public controversies on the social issues of medical practice, to the detriment of their relationships with their patients and colleagues. Rogers urges the public and the GMC to debate these changes and to consider the advantages of returning to the guidance of traditional ethics. (KIE abstract)