Buy essay on Ethical Principle of Double Effect

It is not easy to answer without knowing the exact details of the particular situation and we should think clearly through all the relevant issues. Moreover, to understand this question we should define the meaning of ethics or morals and medical ethics.
The word “ethics” means the philosophical study of the moral values of human contact and the rules and principles that ought to govern it.
However, there is another name for ethics which is moral philosophy. Ethics is a Greek word and moral is a Latin word but it is the same idea. In fact word “morals” seems more practical and tend to be used more about individual behavior and emotional aspect. While, word “ethics tend to be used in framework and set of principles” (Klein, 2003).
Medical ethics means “obligations of a moral ideals, rules and codes of conduct that govern the behaviour of medical professionals”. (Klein , 2003).
Medical ethics is a branch of ethics that deals with moral issues in medical practice. Particularly, it is a study of moral values, which judge the clinical settings and medical practicing as well as medical research. Medical ethics tend to share many principles with other branches of bioethics and health care ethics, such as nursing ethics.
Medical ethics is very specific field of human morality, the specificity lies in the fact that all the behavioral models, principles, assessment and standards aimed at preserving human life and improve their health. Ethical Problems of Medicine troubled “people in white coats,” a very long time, and the first rules of ethics have been recorded in the famous Hippocratic oath. The text of the oath and is the basis for the rest of the moral and ethical standards of professional physicians.
Questions of medical ethics requires thinking in contentious cases. Accordingly, the rigid rules of the ethical issues in medical ethics is not. Nevertheless, experts worldwide believe that every action and decision of the doctor should take into account the 4 basic rules:
– to act for the patient’s benefit;
– to do no harm;
– to respect the opinion of the patient;
– to be fair.
These principles are aimed at protecting the interests of the patient, and their humanity, it would seem obvious. But in real life there are situations in which it is impossible to perform a postulate, not violating others. And then the doctor taking the decision, forced, is a rather slippery slope to cause the “least evil”.
One of the most important issues of biomedical ethics is the issue of assistance to cancer patients, who are hopeless in terms of prospects for longevity. The main and most frequent manifestation of cancer is terrible pain. In that case every doctor face the principle of “double effect”: on the one hand he wants to help the patient, but on the other hand he should follow certain rules of medical ethics.
The double effect principle means that actions have both good and bad effects, but an action that has a bad effect is ethically legitimate only if:
1. The action performed is not itself morally evil.
2. The good effect is not caused by the evil effect.
3. Only the good effects are directly intended; the bad effects are not intended but only tolerated (as unavoidable).
4. There is a due proportion between good and bad effects. (Cavanaugh, 2006)
Let’s see an example of Dr. Robinson who is caring for a patient, Mr. Mills who is suffering from end stage pancreatic cancer. The patient is in so much pain that he can barely speak enough to communicate the level of discomfort. Dr. Robinson considers administering morphine to Mr. Mills’, but feels that there is a reasonable chance that it will shorten Mr. Mills’ lifespan. This situation is a typical problem of medical ethics.