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.

The possibility of mistakes, negligence, injuries and damages in medical activities could give rise to a civil or criminal case. In such cases, resorting to experts’ opinion is necessary. Forensic medicine organization has important role in such cases. Therefore, understanding of the criteria used by experts of this organization is important and could give rise to awareness of doctors and reduce their professional failures. This is a practical research with a descriptive and analytical method and its necessary information are collected by documentary studies. This investigation shows that medics normally try to have correct medical diagnosis and select appropriate process, and treat patients through reasonable methods to reduce their suffering and pains. It is possible that medics make a mistake in their diagnosis and treatment. Although the result of medical treatment are not guaranteed always, they have to do their treatment and operation according to reasonable and scientific standards and any recklessness and negligence causes criminal or civil responsibility. Reflection on the medical cases shows that the reasons of medic’s conviction can be divided into two categories including pre-treatment and post-treatment factors. Pre- treatment indices contain errors related to diagnosis or choice of treatment.