Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

Modern medical ethics, in particular the principle of Non-Maleficent, advises the medical staff to avoid any harm to the patient. Islamic jurists, using religious texts and sources, have introduced rules that are applicable in many areas of life. Among these rules, is the rule Non-Harm, that in this article to review this rule and its applications in medicine. In addition to discussions of the documents, a better understanding of the words "Darar" and "Dirar" and deny or forbid the word "La" at the beginning of the base document, is one of the major issues and disputes. Organ transplants, family planning and birth control, responsibility to protect the health, need to see a doctor for treatment, civil responsibility for doctors in the treatment, responsibility for custodians of society for the control of AIDS, are the problems affecting today's health systems that the rule of No Harm is flowing in them.

Writing treatise on Islah al-Adwiat (Reducing the Side-Effects of Drugs) is one of the most important issues in Islamic medicine. During the first few centuries of Islamic civilization, four important treatises were written on this subject, which established the scientific tradition that formed the bases of the subsequent pharmacological formation. This paper addresses the tradition of writing books on reducing the side-effects of purgatives and it also critically edits and translates the books written by three prominent scholars – Hubaysh b. Atham of Damascus, Qusta b. Luqa of Balbak and Muhammad Zakaria Razi – relying on the surviving manuscripts. The research objective followed by this paper is examining and analyzing the purgatives as an important class in the pharmacological and medical books of the Islamic era.
Almost all books on medicine and pharmacology written in the old medical tradition have a section or a chapter devoted to the detailed introduction of purgatives and counteracting their side effects. Examining these bits, one may trace the main structure of the tradition, which continued for many centuries. Besides, comparing them may provide an appropriate perspective to look at the history of pharmacology. To this end, images of the material included in those books were obtained from libraries and museums, which have housed such books for almost a millennium. Then they were analyzed along with translating and editing.
It may be concluded that pharmacologists belonging to the old medical paradigm would use drugs to treat conditions of bad health caused by changes in the patient’s humors; the drugs, however, would cause some side-effects along with removing humors and residues, leading to a change in the main humor of the body. The pharmacologists; therefore, introduced the drugs, their harms, as well as the best type of the drug to be used and finally suggested some methods in detail to reduce their side effects

Moral sensitivity is one of the most important factors in improving the quality of nursing cares and nurses' performance. This research aimed to determine the relationship between moral sensitivity and self- efficacy in operating room nurses affiliated to educational- therapeutic centers in Ardabil University of medical sciences. This descriptive-correlation study was carried out on a sample of 144 nurses of operating room by census method in 2017. Data were collected by using moral sensitivity standard questionnaire and clinical performance self- efficacy. Data were analyzed using statistical tests: Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t- test and one way ANOVA by SPSS15 software. The mean of nurses' age was 30±6.07 years old. The majority of nurses were female (%54) and majority of them were in operating room discipline (%59). The mean and standard deviation of moral sensitivity score was 87±11.00 and the total self-efficacy was 129±13.00. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant statistical correlation between self-efficacy score and moral sensitivity of nurses (P<0.0001, r=0.882). The results of this study showed that moral sensitivity and self-efficiency of operating room nurses is high. Furthermore, it seems that high moral sensitivity increases self-efficacy. However, moral sensitivity and self-efficacy of nurses can be improved by holding ethical and professional workshops.

Nowadays, transplantation is the final treatment for the patients with end-stage organ dysfunction. Considering the importance of the organ donation and the important role of teachers in raising the knowledge and attitude of a large group of people, the present study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and the attitudes of the teachers in Sanandaj regarding organ donation. This study was a descriptive-analytic (cross-sectional). A total of 250 teachers working in the first and second level of high school in Sanandaj city were selected by cluster sampling method in the academic year 2017-2018 and completed the questionnaire on knowledge and attitude towards organ donation. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 20, independent t-test and ANOVA. The findings of this study showed that 152 (60.8%) had moderate knowledge and 92 (36.8%) had high knowledge about organ donation. 166 teachers (66.4%) had moderate attitude and 81 teachers (32.4%) had high attitude toward it. 90.8% of teachers lacked donation cards, while 144 (57.6%) were inclined to receive a donation card. According to the results, the knowledge and attitude of the majority of teachers were moderate and most of them did not have a donation card. Considering the importance of this effective group in raising the culture and knowledge of students and their families in the community toward organ donation, education and preparing appropriate background for receiving, raising knowledge, and attitudes toward organ donation for the teachers are required.

The white coat ceremonies are a recent phenomenon in medical education at the first steps of their education, that use as a symbol to impress upon medical students the importance of professionalism in medicine. This ceremony is known as one of the primary preparations for entrance of medical students to clinical courses. This study aims to investigate the effect of white coat ceremonies on professional ethics and student familiarity with their professional tasks in clinical departments. The present study is a qualitative study on the students' viewpoints regarding white coat ceremony and based on goal-based sampling. The statistical population included 4th-year medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 1394. Data collection was done by a mixed method which one part of it was the half structural interview and another part by answering the open questions. Data collection continued to the saturation phase, furthermore; the data were analyzed by content analysis method according to the instructions. Most of the participants in this study considered holding a ceremony before entering the hospital as an important event for the readiness of students to go through a clinical course. The most important positive effects of white coat ceremony were increased students' commitment and accountability, improved interactions with patients, increased motivation and self-confidence, and familiarity with some of the basic principles of professional ethics. A white coat celebration can enhance the students' familiarity with their professional duties and motivations. More studies are needed to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, and shortcomings of this ritual.
 

Nursing ethics is one of the most basic aspects of nursing profession, which nurses are required to follow the principles receiving nursing care with confidence by patients. This study was conducted to determine the level of moral development of nurses and its contributing factors. This descriptive, analytic study was performed in 2017, study samples were 310 nurses working in educational hospitals of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. Samples were selected by convenience method. The data was collected using a Kohlberg’s nursing dilemma test. The questionnaire included six scenarios: newborn with anomalies, forcing medication, adult's request to die, new nurse's orientation, medication error, and uninformed terminally ill adult. The data was analyzed by IBM SPSS 18 using descriptive and analytic tests. In this study, 51 nurses (16.45%) were in the pre-conventional level, 101 nurses (32.58%) in the conventional level, 132 nurses (42.58%) at the post-normal level and 26 nurses (8.38%) at the level of clinical considerations. Moral thinking mean score was 42.58 ± 5.6 and the mean score of the clinical considerations was 21.53 ± 4.3. The present study showed that the majority of nurses are in the post conventional and conventional level; but this is less than 50% of all nurses, which shows that the level of moral development of nurses is in the moderate level. It requires further investigation of the causes and related factors and more efforts for improving it.
 

Scientific research as well as a lot of social and individual effects for human beings has caused many moral problems. The prospect of children building through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or human cloning has caused widespread moral concerns around the world. Accordingly, various reports and regulations have been published at the national and international levels that address the ethical principles for research involving human subjects. In this regard, the Belmont report is of particular importance, in which three fundamental principles of human research have been taken into consideration. These three principles are: the principle of "Respect for Persons", the principle of "Beneficence" and the principle of "justice". In the field of this new biotechnology, namely, human cloning with respect to the use of human subjects in it and according to the ethical principles for research involving human subjects, there are three types of discussion: problems of Safety; a particular problem in the field of business Satisfaction and the problem of the exploitation of women. Considering that about 90% of cloning efforts in animals have been encountered with many problems such as abortion, early death, the development of certain diseases and physical defects, etc., it is not wise to use it in humans and it causes certain and unpredictable problems in cloned people.
 

Jundishapur was built during the Sassanid Shapur era to house Roman prisoners, and a scientific school, especially in the field of medicine was established there. Jundishapur's urban and scientific identity are intertwined with three concepts of Medical knowledge, Syriac, and Christian Christianity. In this research, the establishment of the Nestorian dynasty in Jundishapur, as well as the distinguished position of these physicians in the flourishing of Islamic civilization, has been studied and recognized. Therefore, this issue will be explained and highlighted by analytical descriptive method and relying on library resources. After the rise of Islam and the conquest of Iran, the medical elites of Syriac and Nestorian Jundishapuri; in particular, the Bakhtishoo, Masouyeh, and Maserjuyeh families continued to incorporate the medical traditions of various nations and the translation of Greek medical texts into other languages at Jundishapur Hospital. With the employment of prominent people of these dynasties in the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, human resources, academic, and clinical achievements and the results of centuries of experience of Jundishapur Hospital Medical Center in compiling and translating medical texts have transferred to Islamic civilization by them.

One of the main issues in hospitals is evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness. For this purpose, several indicators are presented, which are known as functional indicators. If the performance of hospitals depends on the patient's demographic characteristics, overlooking effect of hospital indicators, as an effective factor at a higher level on the patient rights, may lead to inaccurate conclusions about these relationships. In such cases, where the data are intrinsically multilevel, the use of multi-level statistical models for this type of data is useful. Samples were collected from eight hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2013 in a two stage cluster. Data on patient rights and demographic information were collected from 375 patients by a questionnaire. The patient's rights rate was measured by multivariate statistical analysis and factor analysis. Two-level linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between patients' rights and some demographic information. The first level was demographic factors and the second level was hospital factors. The results showed that rate of considering patients' rights in hospitals were in moderate level. About 16% of the variance of the dependent variable of patient's rights, which was significant, is due to variations at the higher level of the hospital and other variations at the individual level. Furthermore, variables of bed occupancy, complaint rate, and hospital escape rate at the higher level (Hospital) have a significant impact on the patient's rights.

In medical centers, compliance of personal and social behaviors with ethics and religious standards is very important and requires constant evaluations. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the compliance of medical affairs with the standards of the Holy Sharia from the perspective of patients and interns in the teaching hospitals of Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz in 2020. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study and the statistical population consisted of 204 interns and 385 patients referred to the teaching hospitals of Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz. Sampling was done randomly. Data were collected by data collection form and questionnaire from patients and interns which was collected by the researcher including 17 questions. Data were analyzed by SPSS version20 software and descriptive and inferential statistics. From the interns' point of view, there was a significant difference (P <0.05) between the compliance of medical affairs with the standards of holy sharia in different hospitals and gender, but there was no significant difference in different ages and marital status (P> 0.05). From the patients' point of view; There was no significant difference (P >0.05) between the compliance of medical affairs with the standards of the Holy Sharia based on gender, age, education, marital status, and hospital. From interns and patients point of view, compliance with Holy Sharia standards were 45.1% and 40.5%, respectively. According to the results of the present study, physical space and more medical staff in both genders are required to fully comply medical affairs with the standards of the Holy Sharia in all the examined hospitals.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly impacted the publication of research articles, transforming the landscape of academic writing and dissemination. However, the integration of AI in this process presents significant ethical challenges that require careful consideration. This review study utilized a comprehensive search strategy, employing keywords such as "artificial intelligence," "publication ethics," "ethical challenges," "academic integrity," and "research dissemination" to identify relevant articles in scientific databases including PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. The search included articles published between 2010 and 2024 in both English and Persian. Research articles, systematic reviews, and case reports that included the specified keywords in their titles and abstracts were selected. A total of 150 articles were screened, and 50 relevant studies were included for detailed analysis. The analysis identified several ethical challenges associated with the use of AI in academic publishing. Concerns regarding academic integrity are paramount, as AI-generated content can blur the lines between original research and automated writing, raising concerns about authorship and plagiarism. Furthermore, the reliance on AI tools for data analysis and manuscript preparation can raise questions about the accuracy and validity of research findings. additionally, the potential for bias embedded within AI algorithms is a significant concern, as it can influence the selection of research topics, the framing of research questions, and even the peer review process. The lack of transparency in AI-driven editorial processes can further undermine trust in academic publishing. This review underscores the urgent need for robust ethical frameworks and regulations to guide the responsible use of AI in academic publishing. Increased awareness and training among researchers and editors regarding the ethical implications of AI are crucial. Interdisciplinary collaborations are essential to address these challenges effectively and ensure the integrity and trustworthiness of academic research in the AI era.