Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

Women are the epitome of affection and are therefore suited for the caregiver role by nature. In Prophet Muhammad’s era, women entered one of the toughest and perhaps most masculine areas of social life, that is, the battlefield. Prophet Muhammad permitted and endorsed the presence of women in battles, and appointed troops of women to accompany him to war for the purpose of providing nursing and medical care. The importance of this issue lies in recognition of the role of Muslim women in social arenas such as battlefields. This study aims to: a) investigate the medical role and performance of women during wartime in Prophet Muhammad’s era, and b) describe the medical function of women in the Prophet’s battles while introducing some who have been active in this domain.

This was an analytic/descriptive study conducted by collecting note cards from library resources. Our findings showed that women had a significant presence in battles during the early stages of Islam, and as historical evidence confirms, they appeared in the caregiver role by the permission of Prophet Muhammad. Moreover, women’s presence was not due to a shortage of men in the battlefield, but rather because of their abilities in the field of medicine and healthcare, where they succeeded in offering a remarkable performance.

The pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in every economy. Although pharmaceutical sector has distinctive economic features, like every other sector of the economy, the production and distribution of pharmaceuticals must obey competition law rules.

The provisions regarding unilateral anticompetitive conduct such as discriminatory pricing, aggressive price setting, abusing a dominate position and hoarding and refusal to inter into transactions as well as collective anticompetitive conducts such as collusion are some important competition rules which are applicable in the pharmaceutical industry.

Although the existence of competition law and regulation is necessary for working in pharmaceutical industry but pharmaceutical ethics can prevent committing the anticompetitive conducts and plays an effective role as a deterrent factor. This Article while reviewing the application of competition law rules in pharmaceutical industry introduces the anticompetitive behaviors in this sector.We also focus on the competition council’s function in monitoring the pharmaceutical industry and the role of professional ethics in preventing theviolation of competition law in this sector.

Moral dilemmas are among the most important challenges in medical ethics. Dilemmas can occur frequently during a physician’s career and if physicians lack the ability and skills to solve them, they may be pushed to unethical behavior. Bioethics experts have always been concerned with solving ethical dilemmas in the medical profession and facilitating physicians’ decision-making process. Therefore, they often try to find useful and practical solutions by combining the views of different schools of ethics. Designing decision-making models is part of their effort to apply ethics in medicine. It is impossible to solve dilemmas without acquiring the necessary skills, and the ability to apply a decision-making model can be part of the training process.

These models aim to facilitate ethical decision-making in the field of health care by providing various frameworks. This article aims to introduce and evaluate the popular models of ethical decision-making in medicine in the hope of helping physicians choose appropriate solutions when faced with moral challenges. By presenting the advantages of applying the model approach and offering a brief introduction to popular models, the article recommends applying the approach in analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas. Although the models each have their advantages and disadvantages, becoming proficient in their application will facilitate ethical decision-making for physicians.

Disasters and accidents usually occur unexpectedly and without warning, and frequently cause the deaths of millions of people all over the world. In addition to general and specialized medical staff, volunteers, many of whom lack the necessary training for providing care to victims, enter the scene. In recent years, there has been rising concern about prosecution of volunteers who participate in relief operations due to the possibility of harm to victims. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of the "Ihsan rule" to liabilities resulting from unintentional and uninformed actions of volunteers who operate during disaster relief.

This was a review study conducted through examination of related articles on SID, Magiran, Google Scholar and Pubmed. The results showed that the Ihsan rule cannot absolutely and ubiquitously eliminate the liability of volunteers who participate in relief operations after disasters and accidents. The reason is that although the rule recognizes benevolent motives, good intentions and non-anticipation of monetary compensation, volunteer aid should be approved by experts, and the possibility of harming the injured should not exceed the expected benefits. Consequently, volunteer acts in disasters and accidents are acceptable if:

1. Basic training and education is provided to all employees of the medical profession who may volunteer for relief operations after disasters and accidents.
2. Volunteer deployment is executed in the form of committees or specific scientific groups that will organize and train members so that they will perform relief operations according to the guidelines of these institutions.

One major problem that continued to threaten the Iranian society well into early twentieth century was the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases. Even though the Iranian civilization had been around for centuries, deaths resulting from such diseases caused the population to stay at approximately six million. Qajar kings and rulers were the first to attempt to control epidemic diseases by utilizing modern methods such as vaccination.

In 1919, Prince Firuz Mirza Nusrat al-Dawla was elected as head of the Iranian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. A member of this delegation and the ruler's personal physician was Dr. Mohammad Khan, who introduced Firuz Mirza to the Pasteur Institute upon arriving in Paris. Firuz Mirza was impressed by the activities of the Institute and decided to establish a similar institution in Iran.

Findings of the present study show that the establishment of this institution resulted in measures that, along with other activities initiated by the government in the field of public health, controlled the spread of many infectious diseases in Iran.

Genetic research was initially limited to the screening and diagnosis of known hereditary diseases. After the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP), studies became concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of many non-communicable diseases threatening the public health. Aside from this, genetic engineering, in its new form, is also concerned with the development of recombinant medications, genetic enhancement, and genetically modified organisms and their applications. The climax of these achievements is the advent of transgenic creatures. These are organisms with a genetic makeup different from their natural one created through biotechnology. Transgenic products have become more popular in recent years, especially in agriculture and livestock sectors. At the same time, genetics and biotechnology are trying to keep pace with modern advancements. Genetic modifications have resulted in larger yields in agriculture and livestock as well as the development of new medications and vaccines. Despite the large profits that genetic engineering and transgenic organisms can bring for us, they may pose dangers in certain fields. Furthermore, there are ethical concerns about the application of these technologies.

The present study attempted to address the ethical issues in new genetic technologies and analyze them with regard to the four principles of bioethics. For this purpose, keywords were first looked up in scientific sources and the data were classified; ethical considerations were then analyzed in the light of the four principles of bioethics.

In the results section first the merits of such products for humanity and their contributions to saving the limited available resources are pointed out; subsequently, potential threats in some fields are addressed, along with considerations about the mass production and consumption of genetically engineered products, autonomy of individuals, the importance of raising awareness about the pros and cons of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and their labeling. Finally, equity is addressed, and general benefits and harms, costs and effectiveness are discussed.

Cryopreserved embryos are considered as abandoned embryos in two situations. The first situation is when the embryo`s owners have no definite domicile and no written guideline has been provided by the couple regarding the embryo`s status. The second one is when the owners of cryopreserved embryos explicitly state that they permit the freezing centers to decide about their embryos` fate. The aim of the present study was to determine the best possible decisions about cryopreserved embryos in case of their abandonment by couples.

This research was conducted through library and analytical research methods.

As the cryopreservation of embryos is expensive, cryopreservation centers must be exempted from preserving embryos after unsuccessful attempts at communication with the owners and passing of reasonable time.

Making decisions about the fate of abandoned cryopreserved embryos depends on the nature we attribute to them. If we consider abandoned cryopreserved embryos as humans, it is possible to destroy them according to the rule that necessities allow prohibitions. If we consider them as properties or quasi-properties, when there is no accessibility to their owners in order to determine their fate as properties, the governor is permitted to make decisions about their disposal or donation for researches.

Despite all recent advancements in medical sciences and the related technologies, the concept of death still remains obscure. It can be asserted that as death includes both physical and spiritual dimensions, medicine alone is not capable of fully illuminating its different features. Therefore, inter-disciplinary collaboration between different branches of science such as Quranic studies, humanities, and philosophy seems necessary in order to shed some light on this hitherto undiscovered subject. Through description of what the soul experiences before and during death, such collaborations may even enrich the knowledge and broaden the minds of physicians who are capable of the analysis of physical changes caused by death. This insight can promote the ethical decision-making process as well as the provision of end-of-life care and spiritual support in different stages of death. The current research, as a library literature review, endeavors to provide a descriptive view of death from a medical perspective, and then, a Quranic depiction of its different stages through an analysis of verses and quotations from the holy Quran and Islamic scriptures whose primary focus is the process of dying. The final discussion section presents some similarities and differences observed between viewpoints and raises questions which can be considered as being of great practical importance in terms of provision of necessary end-of-life spiritual support. We hope that further research in this field can better clarify the issues raised in this article so that practical measures aiming at the provision of Quran-based spiritual end-of-life care are designed and implemented.

Traditional and complementary medicine centers, as providers of health services, have a special responsibility towards patients and clients. With increase in the number of these centers, the role of traditional and complementary medicine has become more important in the analysis, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses. The accurate and fast performance of medical approaches using evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, with consideration of the rights, integrity, and dignity of clients are among the priorities and necessities that can have a significant impact on the satisfaction and acceptance of the scientific and legal institutions, parallel to the deployment of new services provision systems. Lack of sufficient scientific evidence of efficiency and effectiveness, lack of definition and determination of authorities to handle complaints, the legal process of ethical and legal aspects of medical errors has caused challenges for the field of complementary and alternative medicine. Thus, this legal void must be filled through formulation and revision of laws and regulations, defining of the practical and acceptable set of scientific resources, and determination of authorized service centers to resolve complaints and to punish. It is hoped that the results of this review study increase the information of the professionals in this field and attract the attention of authorities of medical ethics to this field.

The invasion of Iran by Mongols in 1217 AD had a profound impact on different aspects of social life, in which some aspects still exist and are undeniable.

One of these aspects is Mongol’s folk medicine. A review of Iranian folk medicine in Qajar period shows how medicine in this period which was a mixture of oral culture and religious beliefs was influenced by Mongol’s folk medicine.

By comparing Mongol’s medicine and Iranian traditional medicine in Qajar period, this article elaborates on how Iranian traditional medicine was influenced by Mongols

Physician-assisted suicide is an important, challenging issue in medical ethics, which the right to die is a central point in this issue. Physician-assisted suicide is offered to end intolerable pain and suffering. Although, it is a legal practice in some countries, still it is a challenging and controversial practice in ethical and legal perspectives. It has been argued that based on the principles of medical ethics, physicians should respect patient’s decision, however many ethicists and jurists believe that Physician-assisted suicide is unethical. It should be noted that the main reason for proponents and opponents is based on their interpretation about human dignity. This controversy can be resolved by reference to religious interpretation of human dignity in which asserts that Physician-assisted suicide is against human dignity and respect for human life.

Self-defence is everyone’s right. Based on this right, one can defend himself against any eminent threat, even if it cause the predator’s death. This ethical principle is an applicable principle in ethics in war. However, the principle of self-defence has been applied in other situation such as justification of abortion if mother’s life is threatened by her fetus. Judith Thompson is a philosopher who defend abortion by applying this principle, in her book, “ A Defence of Abortion”  Thompson categorized pregnancy into two types, wanted and unwanted pregnancy, argues that abortion is justified in wanted pregnancy if mother’s life is endanger. She also discusses the involvement of a third party in performing abortion. However, her argument has been criticised by her proponents as well as opponent. This article examines the principle of self-defence and its application in justifying abortion as well as   the involvement of a third party in Thompson’s perspective.

Euthanasia is still a controversial issue worldwide. There are different and sometimes contradictory opinions about euthanasia and its practice.  By exchange of ideas and opinions about this issue, some countries have explicitly accepted euthanasia and it has been legalized. Whereas, some other countries distinctly rejected euthanasia and in result it has been criminalized. Among countries there is a third group, with a passive or neutral position. In those countries, like Iran, the acceptance or rejection of euthanasia has been discussed among the law experts but there is no legislation to address the issue. This article aims to evaluate euthanasia based on the Article 372 of Iran's Islamic penal code.

Archaeological evidence and various historical documents indicate that Chinese were aware of the lands beyond the mountains of the West, especially Iran. This article argues that Iranians had a great role in transferring Iranian religions as well as some other religions such as Christianity to China. As such, the transfer of medical knowledge had had occurred along with transferring those religions and beliefs.

As it is the case now, in the past, business relationship between countries and different ethnic groups played a great role in knowledge transfer between nations. By reviewing the existing historical documents, library resources and archaeological findings, show that the extensive trade exchanges between Iran and China, lead to not only cultural exchange and religious beliefs but also the transfer of medical beliefs, knowledge and practices to China. This happened by the Iranian religious envoys as well as non-Iranian religious missionaries. In conclusion, this knowledge and technology transfer had an impact on the flourishing Chinese medicine.

Since the beginning of the Imamia school of thought, Imamia scholars paid a great attention to issue of physicians’ responsibility. With a long-lasting debate on this issue, in most cases they have confirmed physician’s responsibility in medical error. However, in terms of a skilled medical doctor who treats the patient with no medical error but harm occurs, there is no consensus. Some scholars have said that if the physician had the patient’s (or family) consent for the treatment, then the physician is not guilty. In the contrary, some scholars believe that the physician still should bear the responsibility.This paper aims to examine the Islamic Pinal Code (no. 495) by relying on changing trajectory Imamia jurisprudence in exchange for claimed physicians’ responsibility. The legislators in Article 495 of the Islamic Penal Code (Act. 92), seems to take into account both mentioned perspectives and try to choose a middle way. However, in practice, this has caused confusion.

One of the most important sources in Islamic traditional medicine is the hadiths remaining from infallible imam and the first condition for using the hadiths especially in medicine is the exact and correct understanding. The systematic and accurate understanding on fulfillment of certain conditions and applying the rules of understanding are based on the features like various aspects of semantic, generalization and encumbrance, generality and particular meaning, firm and similar ayat, abrogating and abrogated in one hand, the narrative transition from time to time and various historical vicissitudes and as a result of various damages like distort spiritual and literal, paraphrase, ambiguity, ijaz, forging and etc. in narrations of the infallible Imam. In understanding of medical traditions, the evidence attached is used more among the rules of understanding. This study analyzed the attached evidence and studied about how they are used in understanding of traditions.