Ethics and Clinical Practice

Abstract

I suppose it is worth starting by saying that I am a general practitioner also trained in philosophy. I am interested in today’s subject of medical ethics from two perspectives, first at a more philosophical level and second as a general practitioner with wide clinical responsibilities for my patients. Secondly, I ought to apologize in advance to anyone who is philosophically trained for the very skimpy nature of what is to follow, but, in the time available, I can only outline some basic ethical issues relevant to medicine in general and to problems associated with inborn errors of metabolism in particular.