Canons of Ethical Conduct
The ethical frame
Ethical conduct in prosthetics rests on obligations to patients, the public, the profession, and colleagues. Core principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, veracity, and fidelity. The canons translate these into conduct: provide competent care within scope, obtain informed consent, protect confidentiality, avoid conflicts of interest, be honest in representation and billing, respect colleagues, and report unethical or unsafe conduct through proper channels.
Concepts to name
Understand patient autonomy and the right to refuse or choose among options; truthful representation of credentials and outcomes; confidentiality and its limits; conflict of interest disclosure; advertising that is not misleading; gifts and inducements that could compromise judgment; and impaired practice obligations. Know that ethical duties may exceed legal minimums.
Traps
Questions often set up a conflict between patient preference and clinical appropriateness. The ethical answer is usually to educate, disclose, and respect an informed choice - not to coerce, and not to abandon the patient. Another trap: assuming a legal act is automatically ethical, or that a supervisor's instruction excuses unethical conduct. Watch for scenarios about disclosing errors: honesty and remediation are required.
Rule of thumb
Apply the sunlight test: if the decision and its rationale could be openly documented and defended to the patient, the profession, and a payer, it is likely sound. When in doubt, disclose and consult.
Worked example
A patient insists on a device the clinician believes is inappropriate. The ethical path is to explain the risks and alternatives, document the discussion, respect the informed decision where safe, and continue care - not to refuse service or misrepresent the device.