Bioethics

Bioethics is the study of ethical issues in the practice of medicine and biomedical research. The field of bioethics has flourished for 40 years, and bioethicists have made significant progress on ethical issues in clinical medicine—that is, on “bedside” issues in the delivery of health care. In the 1980s, bioethicists began to make significant progress in advancing understanding of the just distribution of scarce health care resources. Since the 1990s, bioethicists have also focused on ethical issues regarding for-profit health care, such as the development and marketing of pharmaceuticals and trade in health services.

The field of bioethics is one of the allied areas of research closest to business ethics. Bioethicists and business ethicists deal with many similar issues, such as the appropriate use of ethical ...