Military Medical bioethics

Running head : MEDICAL BIOETHICS IN THE ARMY

Bioethics for Medical Doctors in the Army

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Abstract

The tragedy of war has been common throughout human history and is presently raging worse than ever . The ethical or moral dilemmas encountered by physicians in combat are difficult to resolve since they have pledged their loyalty to the Hippocratic Oath . The military corps has other priorities that involve serving the interest of a state or a

br nation . Even though there may be actual s as to how to treat prisoners or enemy soldiers , and civilians , these considerations take a backseat to the protection of national interests . Consequently , a physician must choose between being loyal to their pledge to save lives against obeying a state or a nation 's efforts to save their national interests even if it means killing civilians or soldiers hors de combat

Bioethics for Medical Doctors in the Army

INTRODUCTION

War is a tragedy whose existence is riddled with ethical challenges and paradoxes that no one likes to talk about . Perhaps the only way these ethical questions may be considered is if we think of them through a veil of humor . This was the basis of the series MASH , one of the most famous and successful television program , portraying life in a MASH , a medical mobile unit with nurses and surgeons who took care of wounded soldiers during the Korean War . The popularity of the show was due to the two main characters B .J . and Hawkeye whose adventures illustrated these ethical and moral dilemma doctors go through when in the Army , and especially at war . MASH made us laugh at the absurdity of the ethical dilemmas B .J . and Hawkeye had to deal with on a daily basis However , some episodes could not make us laugh because the level of tragedy involved in the story was too deep . Many times , B .J . and Hawkeye found themselves in situations when they had to make a choice between being soldiers or being doctors . Their choice always tended to be in favor of being a doctor first , even if it meant that they would be disciplined for disobeying s . One may think that the choice is clear , either way , but as this discussion will show that it is not the case . The scope of this is to explore these issues by defining what ethics are , what background doctors as well as military men come from ,and what may happen if you mix both in one person . The scenarios invoked to discuss this are when the country is either at peace or at war

ETHICS AND BIOETHICS

What can be said about ethics , and specifically bioethics ? In the first place , ethics are the analysis and the application of moral concepts dealing with Good , Evil , Right , Wrong , Responsibility . The reason why ethics are so hard to grasp is because even though , we may be able...