Ethical and legal implications in respiratory care ethical and legal implications in respiratory care introduction it is quite evident that the respiratory systems are the most essential organ that helps the human to take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide if the respiration system does not work properly people might have a respiratory disease. Legal issues and ethical dilemmas in respiratory care en dcprovenance citation prepared by the library and information services group of the kennedy institute of ethics georgetown university for the ethxweb database en dcprovenance. 49 ethical dilemmas in respiratory care often involve what the scope of practice confidentiality working within levels of professional responsibility professional development issues staffing patterns and or recordkeeping 50 when do ethical dilemmas occur when there are two equally desirable or equally undesirable choices. It is customary albeit perhaps simplistic to identify four ethical principles as the basis for good medical practice1 these are beneficence non maleficence respect for autonomy and justice primarily distributive justice the challenge for the practising clinician is to determine a proper course of action when these principles conflict particularly when the individual social or