Commentary on Chapter V of the Code of Medical Ethics Cover Image

„Lekarz a społeczeństwo”. Komentarz do V rozdziału Kodeksu etyki lekarskiej
Commentary on Chapter V of the Code of Medical Ethics

Author(s): Magdalena Reshef
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Published by: Naczelna Izba Lekarska
Keywords: Code of Medical Ethics;physicians;

Summary/Abstract: The 5th Chapter of the Polish Code of Medical Ethics, entitled „A Physician vs. Society” contains norms reaching far beyond the sphere of relationship created directly between patient and treating physician; in a very vast context, they form the ethos of the medical profession. These norms formulate the following objectives: physicians stimulate health-related behaviours not only among their own patients, but they also influence the entire society and even the authorities; these norms define duties of informing about ecological threats. They determine standards of massive epidemiological studies, characterized by the lack of risk and using the results exclusively for improving the health of the society. Regarding the problem of the physician as an employee and his right to go on strike, the norms determine the extent of the possible non-giving assistance during an action of protestation. They forbid physicians to take part in tortures or in any other way of treating individuals in a cruel or humiliating manner. They qualify as unethical an action of the physician who, in sports, uses therapeutic means and methods for non-therapeutic purposes. They postulate offering the physician, performing his profession, a particular form of protection. Many of ethical standards mentioned in the 5th Chapter are reflected in valid legal provisions. Only the Article 69 of the Polish Code of Medical Ethics, obligating physicians to give assistance to everyone in need, has lost its topicality; it has lost its normative importance because it is less rigorous than legal norms that are effective today.

  • Issue Year: 6/2014
  • Issue No: 6
  • Page Range: 85-100
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish