Review article UDC: 614.

253
doi:10.5633/amm.2013.0310

MEDICAL LAW AND ETHICS

Sunčica Ivanović1, Čedomirka Stanojević1, Slađana Jajić2,

Ana Vila3, Svetlana Nikolić4

The subject of interest in this article is the importance of knowing and connecting
medical ethics and medical law for the category of health workers.
The author believes that knowledge of bioethics which as a discipline deals with
the study of ethical issues and health care law as a legal discipline, as well as medical
activity in general, result in the awareness of health professionals of human rights, and
since the performance of activities of health workers is almost always linked to the
question of life and death, then the lack of knowledge of basic legal acts would not be
justified at all.
The aim of the paper was to present the importance of medical ethics and medical
law among the medical staff.
A retrospective analysis of the medical literature available on the indexed base
KOBSON for the period 2005-2010 was applied. Analysis of all work leads to the
conclusion that the balance between ethical principles and knowledge of medical law,
trust and cooperation between the two sides that appear over health care can be
considered a goal that every health care worker should strive for.
This study supports the attitude that lack of knowledge and non-compliance with
the ethical principles and medical law when put together can only harm the health care
worker. In a way, this is the message to health care professionals that there is a need
for the adoption of ethical principles and knowledge of medical law, because the most
important position of all health workers is their dedication to the patient as a primary
objective and the starting point of ethics. Acta Medica Medianae 2013;52(3):67-72.

Key words: bioethics, principles, medical law, health care

High Medical School of Professional Studies, Ćuprija, Serbia1 Bioethics is not only about the issues on the so-
Health Center in Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia2 called classical medical ethics, such as abortion,
Home for Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities
Veternik, Novi Sad, Serbia3 euthanasia, medical secrecy, relationship with
Department of Student Health, Novi Sad, Serbia4 the patient, but also on issues such as cloning,
organ transplantation, treatment of patients with
Contact: Sunčica Ivanović,
High Medical School of Professional Studies AIDS, contemporary issues like disthanasia (the
Lole Ribara 1/2, 35230 Ćuprija process of purposless extending of life), artificial
Email: suncica.ivanovic@yahoo.com insemination, surrogate motherhood, manipulation
of the human genome, genetically modified
foods, and religious and ethical issues on respect
Bioethics and medical law of rights of the members of Jehovah's Witnesses
in case of blood transfusion (1).
The term bioethics was mentioned for the "Medical law is a legal discipline, a subject
first time in 1971 in the book "Bioethics - Bridge restricted area of law, which regulates the
to the Future," in which Professor Van Rensselaer relationship between the patients and the
Potter II used a prefix (Greek: bios=life) and the medical staff pursuant to legal norms as well as
term ethics, and thus emphasized that the medical activity in general" (J. Radišić). By these
growing biological knowledge at the same time legal norms, an external control over the conduct
needs to be under the watchful eye of the moral, of medical professionals is being established in
human values. The emergence of bioethics itself the name of the community, aimed at protecting
necessarily had to happen due to increasingly the rights and interests of not only patients, but
more complex requirements when making medical also the community as a whole (2). Medical
decisions and their connection with ethical ethics and law are complementary; pursuant to
problems, both for health workers and for laymen the rules of medical ethics the courts recognize
involved in the decision-making process, for the legal force as well, and any failure of health
whom the traditional interpretation of medical professionals which is not in accordance with the
ethics was "too close" to give satisfactory answers. set rules shall be subject to sanction, so it is
www.medfak.ni.ac.rs/amm 67
Medical law and ethics Sunčica Ivanović et al.

indisputable that medical ethics is the source of it can be said that the knowledge of law can
medical law (3). When ethical principles and rules make the difference between a successful and
of conduct in the medical area are regulated by unsuccessful man in the occupation he performs.
legal norms, an overlap i.e. a kind of symbiosis Ignorantia juris nocet (ignorance of the law
of bioethics and medical law happens, and in so harms) is one of the fundamental principles of
doing it is the least significant whether bioethics law. The logical conclusion is that the lack of
has become a part of medical law or is it vice knowledge of law brings health workers into
versa (3). situations that can do harm to them.
Medical ethics is closely related to law, but It is often difficult to measure something
law and ethics are not identical. Many times, that is intangible and invisible to the human eye,
ethics provides a higher standard of behavior and especially to control it. Sometimes, especially
than laws. In addition, laws vary from country to in today's global business environment, it is
country, while ethics applies regardless of difficult to implement, as pointed out by Takala,
national boundaries. In order to respond to the the concept of ethics which in itself does include
expectations of patients, health professionals the idea of universality and equality in the
should know and practice the core values of applicability of the rules, for what is good for one
medicine, and especially care for/about a patient, may be bad for others (7). Health policy imposes
ability and autonomy in their work. These values, an additional role on health care workers, too, to
together with respect for the basic human rights, conduct social policy, and even to be keepers of
are the basis of medical ethics (4). the social wealth. Nowadays, there are different
"Medicine and Law have a lot in common, aspects of the moral responsibility of health
and sometimes overlap ...medicine takes care of professionals as far as designing and implemen-
the life and health of people in one way, and law tation of health policy are concerned.
does the same in the other way ... lawyers and These responsibilities are as follows:
doctors during their studies study a common - The health worker must respect the trust
doctrine: Forensic and Legal Medicine" (J. Radišić). given to him and in his work to be guided only by
It could be said that the medicine used to, with the interests of patients;
regard to law, have a privileged position in - The health worker provides accurate and
comparison with other professions. It was regarded reliable information to those who create health
that such an audit, except in some upmost basic policy. In this way the health worker participates
issues, was not necessary as far as society or the in making decisions which are important for the
state were concerned. Further-more, the opinion organization of health services and the distri-
was that a sufficient and successful control might bution of health dinars;
be established and carried out only by the - The health worker, as well as all the others,
medical professionals themselves through their has an obligation to work for justice and social
professional associations and chambers, using interest;
medical ethics. Let us recall that, from the very - The health worker must take into account the
beginning of the development of medicine, and prescribed legal and regulated rules and regu-
until recently, paternalism has ruled in medicine. lations in order to reduce medical costs. Thus,
Paternalism has put the interest of the health of a the desire of patients and assessment of doctors
person in front of the interests of the person to are correlated with socio-economic needs;
decide for himself/herself what is best for him/her - The health worker is primarily a morally
under the circumstances (Lat: salus aegrotisuprema responsible individual (4).
lex). It has often been explained by the patient’s In the recent years, ethics in health care
lack of knowledge, which according to the doctor, has been heavily influenced by the improvement
was needed to make a rational decision about a in human rights. In the world we live in, with lots
medical procedure. The starting point was that of different moral traditions, it is international
the doctor knows best and knows how to protect agreements related to the human rights that
the health and interests of his patients in the matters. They form the basis for medical ethics,
best way, knows how to treat them, and what to which is acceptable to all, crossing national and
do on their behalf. It was not until the early cultural boundaries. Ethical and human rights
twentieth century, when law began to interfere have the same roots in many core values (Mann,
with the relationship between the patient and the 1997). These examples include respect for auto-
physician (i.e. medical staff), as well as in medical nomy, beneficence, harmlessness and justice.
activities (5). Justice has many forms but all of them are
The time we live in is marked by the relevant to health care workers. What is
development of science and its impact on society. important in nursing practice is that by using the
To solve medical problems, it is necessary to professional code of ethics one should remain
have a comprehensive knowledge, and therefore aware of the social impact and consequences of
it is right to say that raising the level of personal their treatment. Nursing profession has reached a
professionalism is something that we should work consensus on the ethical obligations which are
on a daily basis (6). Perhaps a number of the contained in the Code of Ethics for Nurses.
health workers would claim that knowledge of The principles of justice and care are the
law is absolutely necessary for lawyers only, but points at which the issues of ethics and human
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Acta Medica Medianae 2013, Vol.52(3) Medical law and ethics

rights unite. Authors Falk-Rafael (2006) define shows that medicine and law tend to have a
"Nursing is a fundamental responsibility to common interest with an aim to preserve the
promote health, prevent disease and alleviate human most precious resources of life, body,
suffering, it is a call to express the concern for health and human dignity as integral and
humanity and the environment through political important parts of human rights protection (3).
activism at the local, national and international
level. This would mean that if there are no rules, Safety and health promotion
there is a need and an obligation to fulfill them.
For instance, the right of all the patients to have There is no doubt that in recent years the
an equal treatment throughout the health care various legal aspects of occupational health
implementation, i.e. the nurses should provide services have been the subject of interest. In this
fair and equal treatment of all patients. The Code context, they emphasized three arguments have
of Ethics also obliges nurses to provide fair and been particularly emphasized:
equitable treatment respecting "the dignity, a) First, every person needs health in order
worthiness and uniqueness of every individual, to be able to work normally and happily, to live
unrestricted considerations of social or economic alone or with his family. The state and the whole
status, personal attributes, or the nature of society are interested in human health (public
health problems (8). Therefore, knowledge of health) out of many economic, social, cultural,
medical law allows nurses easier, better and defense and other reasons, as well as for reasons
safer application of practical knowledge gained of humanity.
from everyday conduct of activities, and which is b) Secondly, the Republic of Serbia is going
the result of responsible and dedicated approach through a period of intense legal regulation of the
to professional duties. This includes love of the health care system. Since the late nineties the
profession, critical thinking, nursing knowledge normative action in this area, encouraged by the
and expertise. Nurses actively engaged in clinical commitments under the Stabilisation and Association
situations with a sense of responsibility and Agreement of the EC has resulted in adoption of
commitment to the profession contributed to constitutional law and numerous regulations
efficient implementation and improvement of related to health care.
specialized knowledge (9). Based on this, we can c) Third, the stated interest stems from the
say that the health care that is congruent with desire which is based on the general well konown
the needs of patients, and within the available idea - the principles of human rights under the
resources it is both righteous and attentive (8). Constitution of the RS, legislation, UN Convention,
Medical ethics rules are usually codified in a the EC legislation, the National Health Development
separate, national and international, ethical i.e. Strategy (2006-2010), programes and directions
deontological codex. that accompany medical care.
The principles and rules of conduct are The Code of medical ethics and deontology
generally determined by the codes of ethics and has a special meaning to healthcare professionals
deontology, which in the performance of their and patients. It obliges all Chamber licencend
professional duties, and in order to preserve the health workers in the RS to independent practice.
dignity and reputation of the profession, health Medical Ethics and Medical Law are parti-
care workers and members of the individual cularly interested in the relationship between
chambers are obliged to abide by (3). The health professionals and patients concerning the
struggle for prestige and status of the profession provision of medical services. Strictly looking
come out of the in the Codex adopted and that ratio does not take place only according to
brought by the profession itself. In their class legal rules, but also according to the norms of so
organization, health care providers express their called medical ethics.
professional integrity and identity through the Furthermore, ethical considerations are primary
creation and adoption of codes of ethics, rules of in this area: they forme the legal obligations,
conduct and the desirable behavior which they determine their content and scope. Unless the
consciously and in a disciplinary way comply to. ethical rules of conduct are sufficient to ensure a
On the other hand, medical law is not only quality service, the right has to come to the
composed of the regulations passed by the state rescue as a reserve. Because ethics and law are
but also of the regulations passed by the complement and they rely on each other, in the
professional associations of health workers ie. in case of legal loopholes the ethic rules are worth,
this case, the regulations passed by the Chamber and where the legal rules are made, they are
of health workers. (10) applied at the same time, or in the case of
We can say that medical law with its legal different solutions, they take precedence over the
rules regulates medical activity, determines the class rules (10).
status of people who conduct the activity and The literature review shows that there is
their relationship with the users of their services. little that describes the implementation of the
This leads to the protection of human rights to entire law on patients 'rights, and just a bit of
health, health care and health insurance, as well research on the application of patients' rights in
as the rights and responsibilities of health the specific area of international field. In 2007,
workers and health organizations. This unity Länsimies-Antikainen published the results of a
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Medical law and ethics Sunčica Ivanović et al.

pilot study conducted in Finland, which provides a Informed consent - a bridge to future
description and analysis of informed consent, where and partnership with a patient
the majority of patients were able to identify the
main elements required for an informed consent, Informed consent, conscious consent, informed
and who who were present. Zülfikar and Ulusoy approval, informed or informed consent grasps
from Turkey to interviewed 128 patients using wide bioethical area: respect for the patient's
questionnaires which included key items about personality, patient care in medical procedures
patients' rights and they obtained information and biomedical researches, including family,
that only 23% were aware of their rights, 38% relation to children, patients and people with
were unaware of their diagnosis, 63% of which impaired reasoning ability and communication
who were prepared for surgery did not know the between health care workers and patients.
reason for the surgery. The authors came to the Tom L. Ruth Faden and Beauchamp point
conclusion that although the research was out that the term informed consent was first
conducted in these hospitals where the nurses mentioned in 1957. But not earlier than 1972,
were aware of Turkish legislation on rights of the debates on doctors and researchers duties,
patients, the nurses believed that they could not their relationship to the patient in a medical
affect the system in order to achieve the procedure and subjects in medical research
implementation of these rights. began. That same year the right of patients to
At this point, the question on the importance understandable information was declared and
of knowing the medical rights for health care based on that the acceptance or rejection of a
workers who need to know and respect the law medical intervention (13).
and to deal with many ethical dilemmas that Göran Hermerén, professor of medical ethics
require resolution is being imposed (11). Training at the University of Lund in Sweden, the current
programs for the advancement of knowledge and president of the European Group on Ethics in
skills, as well as short-term or long-term training Science and New Technologies (engl. The European
programs are not effective alone for the acqui- Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies
sition of clinical competence, unless the person - EGE) in Brussels, introduces three categories
has access to professional ethics which guaran- of questions,i.e problems that appear in both the
tees the application of this acquired knowledge. theoretical (pre) settings, as well as practical
This includes features such philanthropy, strong application in clinical practice into the contem-
conscience, the existence of mindfulness, accep- porary debate on informed consent. These are:
tance of responsibility of those who are • conceptual problems - try to explain the
committed to and respect themselves and others meaning and the (pre) conditions of informed
and establish relationships with people. All the consent;
features are derived from the beliefs and values • empirical problems - try to find out, for
of the system that exist in the culture of a people example, how much time doctors need to provide
and are of essential importance. For example, information in some specific conditions, and how
nurses who have philanthropic character show the information provided is understandable to the
patient or family;
particular interest in the profession and are
• regulatory issues - to try to determine
usually willing to help others and since they
when, how and by whose duty consider the
have respect for and values of others (patients)
informed consent (14).
are able to establish human relationships with
the patients, be sensitive to their needs and
The functions of informed consent in
make effort to meet the needs. So their critical
clinical practice
thinking helps them in their work to analyze each
clinical situation and use their knowledge
According to two prominent lawyers and
effectively. Ethical approach will enable nurses to bioethicists, Jay Katz and Alexander Capron,informed
review each clinical situation and provide care as consent includes the following features:
a new experience, examine it, and make a 1. promotes individual autonomy of the
positive effort to improve the quality of care they patients and subjects
provide, as well as their knowledge and 2. encourages rational decision making,
professional competence (9). The State's duty is 3. eludes the interference of the public
to provide accessible, affordable and quality 4. refers physicians and researchers to
health care for its entire population, under the ethical self-control,
same conditions for all. 5. reduces the risk of civil and criminal
Healthcare in Serbia is guaranteed by the liability of doctors, researchers and their institu-
Constitution as the supreme legal act, which tions.
states that every citizen has the right to Ivan Šegota points that the 6th function
protection of his physical and mental health. should be added here - communication, because
Conservation issues of health, health care, health informed consent is actually based on communication,
insurance and other areas related to health are one might even say that communication is the
regulated by legislation (12). crucial problem. From the point of view of
communications,in order to determine the validity
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Acta Medica Medianae 2013, Vol.52(3) Medical law and ethics

of informed consent the most important things making process of consent, as well as the process
to be considered are the following: of consent withdrawal;
1. how well the information is given, b) the research could be only carried out
2. how much the patient understands it for the direct benefit to the health of the person
3. how consent is truly voluntary, concerned which is subject to the authorization
4. how to get the consent from - the incom- and protection provided by law, and if there is no
petent person, or person with reduced competence, other alternative to the research and whose
as well as people exposed to hidden pressures efficiency with that participant could be compared
(prisoners, soldiers, students ...) with other researches that the participant might
5. how much time it actually takes to agree with.
communicate with patients or subjects. The research that does not have any
The Declaration adopted by the 33 The potential direct health benefit may be taken as
General Conference of UNESCO on 19 October an exception with the maximum limitations and
2005th issue of informed consent is processed minimum risk and burden to which that person is
through Articles 6 and 7 (15): to be incurred, and if these studies are expected
to contribute to the health benefit of others of
Article 6 – Consent the same category they must comply with the
conditions prescribed by law and be consistent
1. Any preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic with the protection of human rights of the
medical intervention may only be carried out with individual person. Any refusal of such people to
the prior and free consent of the person whoich participate in research must be respected
means the obtaining of sufficient information.
When appropriate, the person has to give his Responsibilities of health workers
consent, and he may also withdraw it at any time
and for any reason without adverse consequences The principle of respect for autonomy
and damages. includes the law on consent and refusal of
2. Scientific research can only be carried treatment (16). The ability of human mind to
out with the prior, free, expressed consent of the choose the crucial factors determining the choice
person based on the received sufficient infor- and the decision based on it represents
mation.
autonomy, the ability to defend and protect the
The information should be adequate, provided
human personality and moral identity. Its guide-
in a comprehensible form and they should include
lines suggest consideration of personal values,
modalities for consent withdrawal. Consent may
opinions, beliefs and perceptions, fundamental
be withdrawn by the person concerned at any
human rights, self-determination skills (17).
time and for any reason without any negative
Touching a patient without a consent is recog-
consequences or damages. Exceptions to this
nized in law as a violation or even an assault.
principle may be made only in accordance with
ethical and legal standards adopted by States, Patient's consent must be voluntary, meaning
pursuant to the principles and provisions set forth that the patient has the ability or competence to
in this Declaration, especially in Article 27 and make decisions and to be informed so that the
International Human Rights Law. consent is legally valid. Based on this the
3. In appropriate cases of research carried conclusion for the health care entities is that the
out on a group of people or community, an consent is valid only after the patient's being
additional consent of the legal representative of previously informed about the procedure, and if
the group or community is required. the person understood properly the obtained
A collective agreement or consent of a information and based on all these voluntarily
community leader or other authority in any case gave the consent (17).
it cannot replace an individual consent of each The right to refuse is only the other side of
person received upon sufficient and relevant the right to give consent and together they make
information a whole, and pursuant to the law, the patient’s
decision must be respected even if he could in
Article 7 – People who are unable to that way jeopardize his own life. Decision-making
consent capacity is a key condition for the final approval/
consent. Knowledge and understanding of the
In accordance with domestic law, special ethical framework as well as the law governing
protection is given to people who are unable to the right to refuse treatment and decision-
consent making ability is very important. Law on mental
a) authorization to conduct research and capacity (Mental Capasity Act) 2005 evaluates
application of medical practice should be obtained the competency assessment, and it was created
in accordance with the best interests of the in order to demonstrate conside-ration of ethical
person concerned in accordance with domestic issues in clinical practice and the application of
law. ethical theory. Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 states
However, the person concerned should be that the patient must assume to have capacity
involved as much as possible in the decision- unless there is a different proof. What this status
provides is the guidance on assessing skills and
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Medical law and ethics Sunčica Ivanović et al.

activities in the "best interests" of those who do 1. Communication and collaboration with
not have the ability, with the primary goal of ethicists, particularly in terms of establishing an
balancing the rights of potentially affected patients ethical relationship with the patient;
and their care. If it is estimated that the patient 2. Determinants of ethical documents
does not have adequate capacity of assessment, binding for health care workers: national ethical
and needs to be involved further in the decision- Code Medical Association (chamber), and the
making process as much as possible in order to Geneva Declaration and Helsinki Declaration , the
strengthen his capacity to exercise autonomy. International Code of ethics for medical pro-
The conclusion that the patient lacks the capacity fessionals (including nurses);
to give consent or refuses to undergo the 3. Bioethics, which offers the approach to
treatment must be showing that the patient did solve ethical dilemmas that they are faced with.
not understand the information relevant for
decision making, cannot keep the information, Discussion
cannot perceive information as a part of decision–
making process, or is incapable to communicate the In this paper, most attention is paid to the
decision in any way. The capacity act recognizes knowledge, learning and connecting of ethical
the ability of changing one’s decision and it principles and medical law and the importance of
emphasizes that the assessment of capacity considering the provision of health services,
should be carried out just when the decision functioning, and quality of health care as one of
should be made. the priority issues for all citizens and health care
It is particularly relevant when the care of professionals. The right to health care has been
patients in the early stages of Alcheimer disease recognized in the Charter of Fundamental Rights
is concerned. Beauchamp and Childress have of the European Community. The aim of all
developed frameworks for moral reasoning based health professionals should focus on under-
on moral judgment, rules, principles and theories standing and review of the existing solutions in
at different levels of moral reasoning. This an ethical, legal, social aspects by comparing it
approach does not solve the ethical problem but with the correct model of behaviour and work
it aims to help decision-making in health care with patients, detection and determination of
practice. At the level of principle, the authors potential mismatches between regulations and
have made four basic moral principles that can their enforcement, the continuous monitoring of
be applied in an ethical dilemma for the legislative changes being implemented in the
identification and importance of ethical issues. direction which enables the most appropriate
These principles refer to respecting the patient’s behaviour and dealing with patients, particularly
autonomy, well-being or provision of procedures when it comes to vulnerable patients, for instance,
for the benefit of patients, not doing any harm or people with HIV, dementia or some infectious
wrong, to being just and acting honestly and diseases. Errors in medicine are not rare and it is
fairly. Health workers in this way receive guidance a reality that doctors should be aware of them
for decision-making in practice and thus protect worldwide.
the patient's right to self–determination and Often the consequences of these errors are
interests of vulnerable patients (16). These guide- impairment, a disorder of some functions, and
lines emphasize the requirement that a patient is
sometimes death of patients due to the failure or
the centre of decision-making, the patient should
negligence of health care professionals. Given the
be told the truth, patient's privacy is to be
undeniable dominance of litigation in relation to
respected, the information must be fully pre-
criminal matters, which for the subject include
served and patient's personal beliefs should be
the actions of health care workers, and a high
respected; the consent for the proposed inter-
amount of monetary damages as well as an effort
ventions should be obtained in accordance with
to avoid their payment, it has been concluded
the competence of the healthcare worker, to
respond to all patient’s questions so that he could that the risk of liability of health professionals for
make the final decision (17,16). Taylor said that the damage the patient may incur while treated
modern society requires moral competences of is very large. To minimize the risks and amounts
health professionals and that they are aware of of awarded damages based on the responsibilities
the full moral responsibility in order to work of health professionals, the institute insurance
through ethical issues, because only health care against liability of health professionals is being
workers who have moral competence can be implemented. Insurance Institute has a role to
trusted to act in ways that promote the interests improve the status of patients on the one hand,
of patients (18). and health facilities and health workers on the
other. The patient is obliged to prove the occurrence
The way to solve the dilemma of health of damage caused by the activities of a health care
workers professional, and if he succeeds to prove the guilt
of the damage, he is eligible to claim compen-
Viewed from a practical perspective, the sation for damages from the insurer. Improved
following information and knowledge can help status of health workers is that through an
health professionals in their daily work to solve insurance policy in case of liability they are
the dilemma they have (19). released of obligation of potential claims of
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Acta Medica Medianae 2013, Vol.52(3) Medical law and ethics

patients that can reach amounts that would bring staff is faced with in daily work. Also, the community
into question the future of health workers, and has been reminded to consider the issues such as
further investment in the health institution. time engagement (overtime, shift work, irrational
Aspiration of the society should be reflected in an regime of work and rest, changing work schedules,
effort to support the idea of establishing pressure to do something for a very short period
accountability for health care workers, which of time), a discrepancy between the demands of
enables that mistakes and accidents in medicine the workplace and what nurses can provide, the
to be viewed in the light of their true nature and relationship between the number of staff
avoid the temptation to categorize them into the members, excessive range of work and stress.
hidden practices of health professionals. These problems endanger the health of patients
When you build equality, trust and coope- and lead to risky situations (21). It is also
ration between the two sides that appear in the important to know that the performance of
process of health care, then this procedure can activities of health workers is almost always
be considered to be the aim which each society linked with the issue of life and death, and
should aspire to (20). therefore not adopting, lack of knowledge and
not linking of ethical principles and legal regu-
Conclusion lations are without any justification. According to
recent sociological research conducted in the
There is no doubt that the knowledge and world, a health care professional vocation is at
linking of medical ethics and medical law for the top of the rankings by the social significance
health professionals is especially important in the and this obliges all health professionals to act in
delivery of health care as it is important for citizens the general social life in accordance with the
to be aware of legal rights and regulations and the highest status of their profession. In a way, this
quality of the health care which provides them is the message to all health workers that there is
with the possibility of mutual interference in the a need to restructure the traditional knowledge of
issues of health care and an easier recognition of medical ethics and law, as the most important
situations in which these services are not position of all health workers is their dedication
satisfactory and legally impermissible. We have to the patient as the primary goal and the
witnessed a number of problems that the medical starting point of ethics (22).

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Medical law and ethics Sunčica Ivanović et al.

ETIKA I MEDICINSKO PRAVO

Sunčica Ivanović, Čedomirka Stanojević, Slađana Jajić,Ana Vila, Svetlana Nikolić

Predmet interesovanja u ovom članku jeste značaj poznavanja i povezivanja

medicinske etike i medicinskog prava za delatnost zdravstvenih radnika. Poznavanjem
bioetike, kao naučne discipline koja se bavi proučavanjem etičkih pitanja i medicinskog
prava kao pravne discipline, kao i medicinske delatnosti u celini, autor smatra da se postiže
jačanje svesti zdravstvenih radnika o ljudskim pravima, a kako je obavljanje delatnosti
zdravstvenih radnika gotovo uvek povezano sa pitanjem života i smrti, onda bi
nepoznavanje osnovnih pravnih propisa bilo bez ikakvog opravdanja.
Cilj rada bio je utvrditi značaj medicinske etike i medicinskog prava u radu
medicinskih radnika.
Retrospektivna analiza dostupne medicinske literature za period 2005-2010. godine
na indeksnoj bazi KOBSON korišćena je u metodologiji.
Analiza svih radova dovodi do saznanja da uspostavljanje ravnoteže između etičkih
principa i poznavanja medicinskog prava, poverenje i saradnja između dve strane koje se
pojavljuju u odnosu zdravstvene zaštite, ovaj postupak može smatrati ciljem kome bi svaki
zdravstveni radnik trebalo da teži.
Ova studija podržava stav da nepoznavanje i nepridržavanje etičkih principa i
medicinskog prava u sadejstvu može zdravstvenom radniku naneti štetu. Na neki način,
ovo je i poruka zdravstvenim radnicima da se oseća potreba za usvajanjem etičkih principa
i poznavanjem medicinskog prava, jer je najbitniji stav svih zdravstvenih radnika
posvećenost bolesniku, kao primarni cilj i polazište etike. Acta Medica Medianae 2013;
52(3):67-72.

Ključne reči: bioetika, principi, medicinsko pravo, zdravstvena nega

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