One of the most complex, ever-changing careers is the medical field. Physicians are not only faced with medical challenges, but also with ethical ones. In “Respect for Patients, Physicians, and the Truth”, by Susan Cullen and Margaret Klein, they discuss to great extent the complicated dilemmas physicians encounter during their practice. In their publication, Cullen and Klein discuss the pros and cons of disclosing the medical diagnosis (identifying the nature or cause of the disease), and the prognosis (the end result after treating the condition). But this subject is not easily regulated nor are there guidelines to follow. One example that clearly illustrates the ambiguity of the subject is when a patient is diagnosed with a serious, life-threatening …show more content…
But one may wonder when DPB is necessary and what the benefits of such practice are. Cullen and Klein state that “this deception-to-benefit-the-patient view has a prima facie (at first glance) appeal,” although some may argue that this line of thinking has not yet been proven with positive results. One illustration to this theory is when a doctor tells a kidney transplant recipient that he is doing good and that the prognosis looks promising with the justification that the patient, although the kidney is not functioning at all, but after hearing the positive feedback from the physician, it may lift his spirit and regain full health. The physicians with this type of ideology presume that “a sick person isn’t made better by gloomy assessments.” This type of DBP is intended to be used in order to benefit the patient, however, there are no proven cases to confirm that this method works, and it’s merely intended as an effort for the physicians to make the patient feel better, furthermore, as stated by Cullen and Klein “In all but rarest cases, deceiving a patient ‘for his own good’ is an unacceptable way for a physician to try to help her patient.” (Cullen & Klein
For anyone who has ever worked in healthcare, or simply for someone who has watched a popular hit television show such as Grey’s Anatomy, General Hospital, House or ER know that there can be times when a doctor or health care provider is placed in extremely difficult situations. Often times, those situations are something that we watch from the sidelines and hope for the best in the patient’s interest. However, what happens when you place yourself inside the doctors, nurses, or any other of the medical provider’s shoes? What if you were placed in charge of a patient who had an ethically challenging situation? What you would you do then? That is precisely what Lisa Belkin accomplishes in her book “First Do No Harm”. Belkin takes the reader on
Based on them, we can definitely eliminate options (c) and (d). Option (c) is against the principle of veracity and informed consent because the doctor was lying and hiding the information about the patient’s health that the patient was supposed to know. Option (d) is morally incorrect because the patient is lied to and the surgeon is not penalized. Option (b) does abide by the principle of veracity, but is against rationality because it sets negative example for the community that the doctors can be forgiven for their mistakes. Moreover, it does not abide by stewardship because the surgeon is taking advantage of being a doctor to conceal the truth. Consequently, the morally correct decision would be the option (a) because it abides by the principles of veracity and informed consent as the responsibility of disclosing the truth to the patient is fulfilled. Moreover, considering the rationality and stewardship, it will set an example for all the doctors that incomplete disclosure of information to the patient is unacceptable and the doctors should not take advantage of their importance in the
However, it has been reported that telling a patient the truth may significantly improve their wellbeing as they approach the end of their life. One study revealed that truth telling may reduce terminal cancer patients’ uncertainty and anxiety, as indicated by lower scores on a Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, and higher scores on a Spiritual Well-being scale (Kao et al. 2013). Furthermore, while there is no explicit principle regarding lying within the Hippocratic Oath, honesty is a virtue that is closely associated with physicians and health care providers. In fact, honesty can be closely related to respect for persons, which implies that it is necessary for the maintenance of the physician-patient relationship. Honesty about all relevant aspects of a patient’s diagnosis, prognosis and treatment are necessary to build trust, and to obtain informed consent.
When it comes to a bad diagnosis it is often difficult for doctors to tell their patients this devastating news. The doctor will likely hold back from telling the patient the whole truth about their health because they believe the patient will become depressed. However, Schwartz argues that telling the patient the whole truth about their illness will cause depression and anxiety, but rather telling the patient the whole truth will empower and motivate the patient to make the most of their days. Many doctors will often also prescribe or offer treatment that will likely not help their health, but the doctors do so to make patients feel as though their may be a solution to the problem as they are unaware to the limited number of days they may have left. In comparison, people who are aware there is no cure to their diagnosis and many choose to live their last days not in the hospital or pain free from medications without a treatment holding them back. They can choose to live their last days with their family and will have more time and awareness to handle a will. Schwartz argues the importance of telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and communicating the person’s likely amount of time left as it will affect how the patient chooses to live their limited
Should a doctor tell the truth directly to the patient regardless of the family’s wishes not to do that? Or in contrast, should the doctor simply tell the truth to the patient prior to his or her family? Ruiping Fan and Benfu Li’s journal article primarily focuses on whether or not a physician should tell truth to the patient. From a personal opinion, patients have the right to know their state of health. To be honest with a patient, despite his or her family's wishes, before telling the family ultimately depends on many things, such as the patient's age, medical conditions and circumstances, and religious beliefs.
3. The patient has the right to cordiality, regard, and opportune consideration regarding his needs;
Dr. Graham should have informed Mr. Villalobos about the severity of his health conditions; Dr. Graham also should have informed Mr. Villalobos about all of the possible treatments available. Mr. Villalobos has right to know about his own health conditions and should allowed to make his own decisions regarding his treatment plan. According, to the Ethics case study Dr. Graham did not inform Mr. Villalobos about the state of his medical condition and did not tell Mr. Villalobos about all of his options for treatment. According to Physician-Patient Speech: An Analysis of The State of Patient’s First Amendment Rights to Receive Accurate Medical Advice (2015)” The physician-patient relationship holds, and has held for a long time, a very important
This week’s readings were particularly intriguing because of the advancements we have made and continue to make in the matter of years. However, I focused my attention on the ethical aspects of our medical
The Decline in the Patient - Physician Relationship Over the span of half a century, the medical profession has witnessed a catastrophic shift in the patient-physician relationship. As the manufacturing of new pharmaceuticals and the number of patients under a physician’s care continue to rise, doctor’s are finding it difficult to employ the time-honored principles listed within the Hippocratic Oath. This oath, written in 430 BC by the Greek Physician, Hippocrates, was the first document to state the responsibilities of a physician to his patient (vadscorner, pg 2). Hippocrates believed that it was the physician’s duty, as a healer, to treat the patient infected with the disease to the best of his ability, and not to treat the disease (Hippocrates, pg. 1 ).
There are many ethical practices that are advocated for in every profession in the world. These ethics are supposed to promote integrity and also ensure that the profession in question does not violate the rights of any of the parties that might get involved in it. The most common example that almost everyone in the world is conversant with is “the doctor-patient confidentiality”. Other professions also have their own codes of ethics, which are supposed to safeguard the interest of the parties involved without violating an individual’s liberties. However, there have been numerous scenarios that make doctors and other professions feel the need of sharing information of use to other parties (Stone 1985). This is more so when it comes to the welfare of a patient or other intended victims. This research paper writes for the “duty to warn” ideology.
The most common areas of clinical practice where truth-telling and deception become an ethical dilemma are critical care, cancer and palliative care, mental health and general nursing practice (Tuckett, 2004). Other areas where it can raise potential ethical concerns are in placebo therapy, disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus and informed consent (Tuckett, 2004). Truth-telling is also an act of exchanging moral agents (patients, relatives, nurses) with their sets of values and norms, which in turn are derived from culture, personal and religious beliefs, and traditions (Dossa, 2010). For this reason, the issue of truth-telling is not only approached differently in the various clinical settings but also in different countries, cultures and religions (Kazdaglis et al., 2010). For example, in the United States of America (USA), England, Canada and Finland, the majority of patients are told of their diagnosis (Kazdaglis et al., 2010). Conversely, in Japan, family members play a major role in the decision of ...
Patient confidentiality is one of the foundations of the medical practice. Patients arrive at hospitals seeking treatment believing that all personal information will remain between themselves and the medical staff. In order to assure patients privacy, confidentiality policies were established. However, a confidentiality policy may be broken only in the case the medical staff believes that the patient is a danger to themselves or to others in society. Thesis Statement: The ethics underlying patient confidentiality is periodically questioned in our society due to circumstances that abruptly occur, leaving health professionals to decide between right and wrong.
Disclosure of pertinent medical facts and alternative course of treatment should not be overlooked by the physician in the decision making process. This is very important information impacting whether that patient will go along with the recommended treatment. The right to informed consent did not become a judicial issue ...
Despite the fact that Fan’s and Li’s viewpoint might be perceived as problematic by Western standards, they do provide compelling points. They employ consequences of disclosing all facts to the patient despite the family’s wishes as tactic as a justification for their argument. For instances, Fan and Li indicate that some families have sued against physicians for revealing details to the patient. Other occurrences
One could view disclosing the extent of the patient’s health to someone other than the patient as an invasion of privacy. In accordance with that notion, patients should have the right to do what they wish, without worrying about the physician compromising their wishes. If the physician discovers something abnormal, the patient should be the first to be notified about their medical conditions and given the choice whether to disclose it. Many significant decisions are needed to be made throughout the course of the treatments. Lack of communication or conflicting views may prompt the family to make wrong decisions that opposes the patient’s desires. Moreover, as the disease progresses, the patient will eventually have somewhat of an inclination of what is taking place in the body regardless of the non-disclosures. Conclusively, there are both beneficial and negative features of Fan’s and Lin’s argument. Concocting an intermediate between Western medical practices and traditional Chinese practices can prove to be challenging due to the blatant