**3. The principles of medical ethics**

Based on the Hippocratic Oath, the main ethical principles were beneficence (do the best for patients) and non-maleficence (do no harm). These two principles were considered to be the fundamental principles of medical ethics for hundreds of years. The principles of medical ethics/bioethics were expanded to include autonomy (patient's right to accept or refuse the method of treatment) and justice. Justice in medicine considers the distribution of healthcare facilities and the access of all patients to these facilities. One of the positive characters of the last and this century is the respect and observation of human rights. Therefore the human rights were manifested clearly in the medical ethics, as the medical ethics expanded again to (a) autonomy, (b) beneficence, (c) non-maleficence, (d) justice, (e) dignity, and (f) truthfulness and honesty. **Figure 2** demonstrates these principles.
