Donald School Journal of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

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VOLUME 5 , ISSUE 2 ( April-June, 2011 ) > List of Articles

REVIEW ARTICLE

Ethics in Obstetric Ultrasound: The Past 25 Years in Perspective

Laurence B McCullough, Frank A Chervenak

Keywords : Ethics,Fetus as a patient,Beneficence,Respect for autonomy

Citation Information : McCullough LB, Chervenak FA. Ethics in Obstetric Ultrasound: The Past 25 Years in Perspective. Donald School J Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2011; 5 (2):79-84.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10009-1181

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-12-2011

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2011; The Author(s).


Abstract

Ethics is an essential component of obstetric ultrasound, an area in which the authors have collaborated for the past 25 years. The authors describe their collaboration. They then present one of the core ethical concepts of obstetric ultrasound: The ethical concept of the fetus as a patient. Next, they present one of the clearest clinical applications of ethics to obstetric ultrasound: Autonomy-enhancing strategies. The authors hope that these two paradigms will convince the reader that ethics is an essential dimension of obstetric ultrasound and stimulate further interest.


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