A common framework used in the analysis of medical ethics is the "four principles" approach postulated by Tom L. Beauchamp (Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University) and James F. Childress (University Professor and John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics at the University of Virginia) in their textbook Principles of Biomedical Ethics (1978). These four principles are:
A.
respect for autonomy – the patient has the right to refuse or choose their treatment;
B.
beneficence – a practitioner should act in the best interest of the patient;
C.
non-maleficence – to not be the cause of harm and to promote more good than harm; and
D.
justice – concerns the distribution of scarce health resources, and the decision of who gets what treatment.