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Ethics for Laboratory Medicine
Ann M Gronowski1, Melissa M Budelier2, Sheldon M Campbell3
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; gronowski@wustl.edu.
Clinical Chemistry
|August 23, 2019
Summary
Laboratory medicine faces unique ethical challenges, including informed consent and sample use. Addressing these issues is crucial for upholding high professional standards in the field.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Ethics
- Laboratory Medicine
Background:
- Laboratory medicine must adhere to high ethical standards, with unique challenges impacting practice.
- Ethics education within the laboratory medicine profession shows variability.
- This review establishes a foundation for studying ethics in laboratory medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the ethical principles and challenges specific to laboratory medicine.
- To provide a framework for understanding and addressing ethical issues in the field.
Main Methods:
- Review of core ethical principles from the Belmont Report (respect for persons, beneficence, justice).
- Discussion of ethical dilemmas related to informed consent, patient autonomy, and sample utilization.
- Examination of emerging ethical issues in genetic testing and infectious diseases.
Main Results:
- Key ethical principles include respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.
- Challenges arise in balancing patient autonomy with beneficence, particularly concerning testing refusal and the use of banked samples.
- Genetic testing and infectious disease outbreaks present novel ethical considerations.
Conclusions:
- Clinical laboratorians, despite limited patient contact, require high ethical and professional accountability.
- Recognizing and understanding ethical issues are fundamental for ethical practice in laboratory medicine.
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