Medical ethics in the next 25 years.

In the next 10-15 years most of the major ethical dilemmas facing family physicians will grow more acute. This is not to imply that things are getting worse. On the contrary, it is the simultaneous growth of miraculous methods and frightening risks that will make the dilemmas more acute. In the next 15-25 years, we will learn how to minimize the risks. Several major ethical dilemmas of medical practice are reviewed from this perspective. Finally, some issues are considered that do not fit this pattern and that have the potential to become a much greater challenge to humanity.