A crosswalk from medical bioethics to Forensic Bioethics

There is much common ground between the fields of medicine and forensic science, however the comprehensive framework of bioethics does not have a conceptual counterpart in forensics. Specific ethical concepts and approaches common to medical bioethics will be outlined, then contrasted against the existing status of the application of ethics in forensic science. Through this examination and comparison, a number of directly applicable ethical concepts and a potential framework has emerged. This common ground and experience will permit forensic science bioethics to move forward more rapidly through utilization of the foundation of medical bioethics, with special attention to concepts and applications unique to forensic science. The result will be the development of an ethical framework that is specific to forensic science and its unique issues.