2. Ethics in Sports Medicine

Physicians who care for athletes of all ages have an ethical obligation to understand the specific physical, mental and emotional demands of physical activity, exercise and sports training.

A different relationship exists between sports medicine practitioners, their employers, official sports organization, professional colleagues and the athletes (2). In sports medicine there is also a link between the pathologic concern and specific recreational and professional activity. An athletic injury has a direct and immediate impact on the participation in this activity that may have psychological and financial implications. The most obvious difference between sports medicine and other aspects of medicine is that the athletes treated are generally healthy.

Ethics in sports medicine should also be distinguished from law as it relates to sport. One refers to morality the other to a set of enforceable social rules (2). Although it is desirable that the law be grounded in moral principles and that matters of moral importance should be given legal backing in many instances, not everything that is illegal is immoral and similarly not every immoral behavior is against the law. Thus when speaking of ethics in sports medicine, one is not concerned with etiquette or law, but with basic morality.