Procedural Bioethics and Content or Substantive Bioethics

Daniel Buchanan argued that bioethics has three main functions: identifying and definingexisting ethical conflicts; providing systems or methods to think about new emerging ethicalconflicts in the field of medicine; and helping scientists and physicians to make decisions1. Morethan 45 years after Buchanan´s article was published, the existence in hospitals of mechanismssuch as healthcare ethics committees, institutional review boards for clinical research, andthe increase in standard operating procedures, plans, and manuals for clinical research hasincreased significantly. In other words, there is a greater interest and demand for procedures,leaving aside questions related to the content and moral foundation of the decisions.

Procedural Bioethics and Content or Substantive Bioethics

Daniel Buchanan argued that bioethics has three main functions: identifying and definingexisting ethical conflicts; providing systems or methods to think about new emerging ethicalconflicts in the field of medicine; and helping scientists and physicians to make decisions1. Morethan 45 years after Buchanan´s article was published, the existence in hospitals of mechanismssuch as healthcare ethics committees, institutional review boards for clinical research, andthe increase in standard operating procedures, plans, and manuals for clinical research hasincreased significantly. In other words, there is a greater interest and demand for procedures,leaving aside questions related to the content and moral foundation of the decisions.

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