Ethical aspects of medical risk

Abstract

The article studies medical risk as a problem of bioethics. Its relevancy is due to the fact that, in some cases, the treatment and the application of new technologies can lead to undesirable consequences. The methodological basis of the research is a systemic approach that involves an ethical risk analysis in the professional activity of a doctor. The subject of the study is the moral constituents of medical risk and humane ways of its optimization. As a result, the qualitative parameters of risks and the classification of their types due to different criteria were specified. The author highlights the features of the medical workers’ activity which can predetermine a higher level of risk. The latter may be morally grounded on a doctor’s confidence in a favorable treatment outcome and the exhaustion of other medical avenues. The article describes the fundamental principles and rules that ensure the protection of human health, human rights and safety. The same is true with the medical workers themselves. In connection with this, the issue of risk management is given a thorough attention. The conclusion formulates a statement about the inevitability of a certain risk factor in doctors’ professional practice and the need for its ethical justification and minimization. It is of vital importance that all medical actions should be carried out on the basis of the moral attitude towards the safety of a human life and the inadmissibility of doing harm.