Ethical practice in laboratory medicine; a glimpse of the current issues

Ethics in medicine describes moral principles that should underpin all actions taken in medical practice. The four pillars of medical ethics are beneficence (doing good), non-maleficence doing no harm), autonomy (giving the patient freedom to make informed decisions) and justice (ensuring fairness) (1). These basic principles, which have been established through experiences encountered over many decades, will stand true at all times. These principles are applicable to every field of medicine including laboratory medicine. Ethical issues may change with time due to many reasons, especially with the advances in medicine. The exponential expansion in the field of laboratory medicine demands ethical practice in laboratory medicine be revisited. This article intends to discuss some common ethical issues encountered in laboratory medical practice on a day-to-day basis and to identify the extent of accountability of professionals in laboratory medicine towards ensuring ethical laboratory practice with special reference to histopathology.