Paper I
2024 December (Supplementary) (2019 Scheme) · 100 marks · 180 min

Question

Describe the role of autonomy, beneficence and justice as guiding principles in patient care.

Q154 marksShort Answers

Answer

Autonomy — respecting a patient’s right to make informed decisions about their own care, including the right to accept or refuse treatment. In practice, this underlies informed consent: a patient must be given adequate, understandable information about a proposed treatment/trial (including risks, benefits, and alternatives) and must decide voluntarily, without coercion.

Beneficence — the duty to act in the patient’s best interest, actively promoting their welfare and providing care expected to do more good than harm. This guides treatment selection toward the option offering the greatest benefit for that specific patient, not simply the most convenient or standard option.

Justice — fair and equitable distribution of healthcare resources, benefits, and burdens, without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, socioeconomic status, or other irrelevant factors. In clinical research specifically, this requires that the selection of research subjects be fair, so that vulnerable populations are not disproportionately burdened by research risk while the benefits accrue elsewhere.

Together with non-maleficence (“first, do no harm” — avoiding actions that knowingly cause harm), these four principles form the foundational framework guiding ethical decision-making in patient care and clinical research.

Other Years Asked


Revise MBBS
Preview