Transcript Codes of Ethics

Bringing Ethics into Focus
Part 1: Ethics and Professional Responsibilities
Case Study
Dr. Jacqueline Singer is an ophthalmic surgeon specializing in stitchless
cataract surgery. Dr. Samuel Pargen, another ophthalmic surgeon, claims to
own the procedure used in such surgery. He has a patent on this procedure
and is suing Dr. Singer and others who have performed this surgery without
paying him royalties. Patents of procedures used to be very rare, but as the
number of complex ophthalmic devices has multiplied, the medical techniques
used in conjunction with the equipment have increasingly been patented as
the directions for using the devices. However, the AAO says it knows of no
doctor who has paid another royalties for a technique. Dr. Joan Armice, Chair
of the AAO’s Committee on Professional Responsibilities wondered, “How can
anyone claim to own the way one turns one’s knife when performing
surgery?” The Committee fears that patents of this sort will restrict access to
treatment, obstruct peer review of new techniques, and add to the cost of
care. Dr. Pargen responds, “How can the AAO take the position that a patent
on pure technique is unethical, while a combined method and device patent is
not?”
Are Professional Ethics Different?
• Are the responsibilities that an individual has as
a professional different from those she has as a
private individual?
• In what does this difference consist?
 Source?
 Force?
 Nature?
Sources of Professional
Responsibilities
• The ultimate source of an individual’s
professional responsibilities is their choice to join
the profession. Engaging in the profession is
understood to indicate agreement with the rules
governing it.
• It is these rules, typically organized in a code of
ethics, which serve as the determinate source
of professional responsibilities.
Codes of Ethics
• Professional codes of ethics come in all shapes and
sizes.
 Sometimes they are unwritten, part of the “common understanding” of
the profession; sometimes they are vaguely or imprecisely written;
sometimes they are written in very specific detail.
 Sometimes they enunciate purely moral principles; frequently they are a
mixture of principles, rules of etiquette, and economic considerations
(rules against competition, etc.).
 Sometimes they make explicit reference to broader ethical perspectives
and practices (usually for purposes of justification); sometimes they
don’t.
http://www.aaopt.org/about/governance/index.asp
http://www.aaopt.org/about/governance/standards/index.asp
Nature of Professional
Responsibilities
• One of the things that most clearly distinguishes
most professional codes of ethics from more
fundamental moral systems is the predominance
of the mixed form.
• The mixed character of many professional codes
of ethics perhaps encourages the common
opinion that conformity with the code is all that is
morally required of a professional.
Force of Professional
Responsibilities
• What is the force of a professional code of ethics?
• Typically, such a code is understood to be both
established and constrained by two internal factors:
 The contingent nature of the individual’s commitment to the code;
 The limited character of the individual’s participation in the profession.
• A code of professional ethics can also be supplemented
or limited by its consistency or inconsistency with
broader ethical perspectives and practices.
Are Professional Ethics Different?
• Are the responsibilities that an individual has as
a professional different from those she has as a
private individual?
• There certainly are differences in the source,
nature and force of professional ethics, but one
thing remains consistent: the obligation on the
practitioner to critically evaluate the rules in light
of their own broader moral perspective.
Putting Your Principles into Action
• If you’ve satisfactorily established the moral
claims of the code of conduct in effect in your
profession you still need to apply it (and other
moral considerations) to the issues that you
confront in your professional life. There is no
procedure that can be specified that guarantees
success in this, but there are some specific
strategies that can increase your confidence in
your ethical decision making.
Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making in
Professional Practice
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Determine the facts in the situation.
Define the stakeholders.
Assess stakeholder motivation.
Formulate possible responses to the situation.
Evaluate proposed responses.
Seek additional assistance if appropriate (codes of
ethics, broader moral perspectives, colleagues or
mentors, etc.).
• Select the best response.
• Implement the selected response.
• Monitor and assess the outcome to assist in future
decision making.