Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethics and professionalism
Slide content:Prima facie Duties Prima facie = At first view, or self-evident Each ethical principle is binding unless it conflicts with another principle When the principles conflict, a person must decide which one to act on The theory of the four principles does not give guidance about which one to choose or how to prioritize them 12
Slide notes:Experts in medical ethics say that each of the four principles is a prima facie [ pree -muh fay - shee ] duty. Translated from the Latin, prima facie means at first view. In the context of ethics, this term means its self-evident that an ethical principle is binding unless it conflicts with another principle. As an example of a conflict in principles, imagine a situation in which theres only enough medicine for one patient, but two patients need to be treated, and half the medicine would do no good for either patient. This situation represents an ethical conflict between the duties of beneficence, nonmaleficence , and justice. Unfortunately, the concept of the four principles does not give guidance about how to choose between the principles when they conflict. 12