A dentist refuses to begin treatment for a patient in pain solely because she cannot pay. Which principle is MOST directly violated?

Correct answer: B. Justice

• A. ❌ Informed consent is a process for authorizing treatment, not a principle about access.
• B. ✅ CORRECT — JUSTICE is the duty to treat people fairly and without discrimination, and to distribute care equitably. Denying care on the basis of ability to pay is the classic justice violation in dental ethics. A dentist may decline to establish an elective relationship, but refusing on a discriminatory basis — and refusing emergency care outright — breaches justice.
• C. ❌ Veracity concerns truthfulness — nothing false has been stated here.
• D. ❌ Autonomy protects the patient's right to decide about her own care; it is not what refusal-for-payment violates.

Note: JUSTICE is the better answer: the discriminating factor is a socioeconomic one, which is exactly what justice governs. Note also that emergency pain and infection should never be turned away.