Abstract

One finds Medical Ethics commonly misunderstood by the laity as a kind of “labor union contract” for ulterior purposes—namely to minimize competition and to assure a good financial income. Among another group—full-time physicians in medical schools, government hospitals and in other institutions—one finds at times a misinterpretation of Medical Ethics. They see within a closed circle a high level of professional competence which may seem “ideal” for good medical care. Without other knowledge they along with laymen do not recognize that medical ethics since ancient times fundamentally represent rules of conduct in the practice of medicine for the protection of sick persons. The radiologists, along with others whose practice is largely based on a hospital, have needed to be in the forefront in redefining the Principles of Medical Ethics today. As the focus is sharpened upon the hospital—the emergency room, admission for technical procedures, diagnostic and therapeutic, and legislation emphasizing costs and reimbursement for hospital expense—every practitioner of medicine must recognize that his role as the prime purveyor of medical care may become, in time, coequal with the hospital in the thinking of the laity and government. It behooves every physician to review the bases for the Principles of Medical Ethics at appropriate intervals.