cancer, a woman he had never met before. The physician wrote that the patient's
somewhat vague request consisted of one sentence: "Let's get this over with." This
triggered a barrage of indignant letters from the nation's anti-euthanasia physicians,
opening the subject up for discussion. In the March 1988 issue of The New England
Journal of Medicine, ten prominent physicians acknowledged that many of their
colleagues were already giving their patients the means with which to end their lives. "It
is not immoral for a physician to assist in the rational suicide of a terminally ill person,"
they wrote. "Active euthanasia," they cautiously added, "is something we should be
talking about." It is clear from this discussion that ethics is neither static nor black and
white.
b. Changing Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes. Ethics not only varies by
nationality, age group, race, sex, and even family of origin, but it may also be subject to
change over time. In addition, personal ethics may be in conflict with professional
ethics (as in the case of those physicians currently practicing euthanasia). Why should
ethical standards vary so much? Because they are colored by the values, beliefs, and
attitudes of the individuals and/or groups concerned and by the pendulum swings of the
times. The letters to The New England Journal of Medicine point up a shift in attitude
within the medical community. This shift is away from an absolute view of the moral
requirement to preserve life, any life, no matter what the quality of that life.
c. Using, Testing, and Reformulating a Code of Ethics.
(1) The professional code of ethics is a document written by people,
practitioners in the field. They are people, first; practitioners, second. At the outset of
their careers, individuals tend to follow their professional code without question. But, as
they gain experience, and come up against situations that test the code, people start to
weigh established principles against their own personal ethics. They then turn to
colleagues to share experiences and compare reactions.
(2) At some point, a more formal dialogue may then be opened up, leading
to an eventual change in the professional code itself. This is not something that
happens quickly. (It is not unusual for a professional code to remain unchanged for 5 to
10 years.) Nor, is it suggested that radiographers should feel free to depart from the
established norms of their professional code. Principle 5 of the code advocates the
exercise of "care, discretion and judgement."
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