Professional Misconduct and Ethics

Quality medical care focuses on achieving the greatest benefit while minimizing the risk of patient harm. This standard can become clouded in the case of a parturient and her fetus. The maternal-fetal relationship is unlike any other faced by physicians due to the fetus' complete physiologic dependence on the mother and because both the fetus and mother are considered patients of the obstetrician. This article reviews the ethical principles in obstetrics and gynecology and the laws and regulations that define professional misconduct. Although professional misconduct and ethics are separate entities, there are times when a physician's conduct must be examined from the standpoint of statutory misconduct and ethical uncertainties.