Medical Field Ethics

One of the main ethical issues that faces health care is the security of patient information. This information is protected by laws and regulations such as HIPPA, but there are still concerns Scott, et al, 2005). Among those concerns is the new concept of electronic patient records and information. These records are designed to help hospitals and doctors get patient information more quickly, so that patients can receive treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, anything kept and transmitted on a computer has the potential to be hacked, so that is a serious concern for patients. Not all patients want their medical records to be available electronically, but they may not have too many options (Romano & Stafford, 2010). Opting out may not be an option for them, and if they do have that option it could reduce the speed and quality of treatment that these patients would receive. Do they want to risk that, just so they can feel as though their medical information is better protected?

A physician has the responsibility to determine the legitimacy of all work injuries and to report its finding accurately. If a physician prepares a report with the intent to use it in support of a fraudulent claim and knowingly submitted for payment under an insurance contract, the physician may be subject to fines or imprisonment and risks the possibility of having his or her medical license revoked. Presenting a claim for an item or services based on a code known to result in greater payment or submit a claim for services not medically needed is a violation of the false claim act.

If you were to compare the AMA code of medical ethics to the APHA code of public health ethics, there most definitely would be conflicts. As mentioned, medical ethics looks at the individual and public health ethics deals with the population. One example of this conflict could be in AIDS testing. The individual's right to privacy and confidentiality must be maintained, while the need for public health, such as notifying their partners to prevent further spreading of the disease (Williams & Torrens, 2008).

Medical Ethics has been around since the very beginning concepts of medicine. In A Short History of Medical Ethics, Albert R. Jonsen gives a brief 120-page synopsis of the differences and advances in medical ethics through different time periods and cultures. Jonsen jumps from one philosopher to the next, covering the similarities and differences between such a wide ranged topic over time. Throughout the chapters, I did notice that there was one unifying theme that stayed consistent: decorum, deontology, and politic ethics. Decorum is the appropriateness of behavior or conduct, deontology is the study of nature of duty and obligation, and politic ethics is the practice of making moral judgments about political actions.

In today’s health care industry, mechanical restraints are often used to maintain patients’ behavior and ensure their safety when treating the elderly and the severely ill (Gatsmans & Milisen, 2006). There are many variations of mechanical restraints, but all are defined as “any device, material or equipment attached to or near a person 's body and which cannot be controlled or easily removed by the person and which deliberately prevents or is deliberately intended to prevent a person 's free body movement to a position of choice and/or a person 's normal access to their body” (Gatsmans & Milisen, 2006, p.

In the meantime, the Code of Medical Ethics is a living record, developing as changes in solution and the conveyance of human services bring up new issues about how the calling's center qualities apply in doctors' everyday practice. The Code joins hypothesis and practice, moral standards and true situations under the watchful eye of

Medical ethics and legal issues have been a key topic in medical field for many years now. It is important for medical professionals to understand the importance of the way we care for patients, it is therefore important to be knowledgeable and aware of the medical ethics and legal issues that govern good patient care. Health care professionals must make decisions based on ethical and legal issues to performance their regular duties. However, Medical ethics is not only about avoiding harm to patients. It is rather a norms, values and principles (Ethical theories 2015). Therefore norms, values and principles are intended to govern medical ethical conduct. Ethics is defined as “a standard of behaviour and a concept of right and wrong beyond what the legal consideration is in any given situation”. In another words medical ethics is a discipline that used to handle moral problems coming out the care of patients. Law is another important discipline that often comes together with medical ethics. Law defined as a “rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority”. Government imply law to keep the society running smoothly and to control behaviour that could threaten public safety. Medical professionals have to often prioritise these terms before making any clinical decision. The following findings will constructively emphasise on medical ethics, its

In the mid-19th century, medical codes focused on issues such as not doing harm, not taking life, not revealing personal information, but the codes didn't mention much about telling the truth. The American Medical Association’s code of ethics did state that physicians had a “sacred duty” to “avoid all things which have a tendency to discourage the patient and depress his spirits.” The issue of not doing harm was so important that it was acceptable for doctors to lie in order to not do harm. In the past, telling the truth about fatal or serious diagnoses was assumed to cause harm to the patient, so physicians traditionally did not tell the truth to patients. But times have changed and the importance of patient autonomy is growing. Patients have

The discussion on Patrick Dismuke's condition concentrated on his incapability to improve. After reviewing his symptoms and considering possible scenarios resulting from certain kinds of treatment, such as the tube that delivered nutrients into his veins that "broke the barrier between blood and air" and became "a bacteria-laden Trojan horse, opening the door to infection", we attempted to come to a consensus on what would constitute a quality life, as deliberated among the committee. We took into consideration that after every kind of surgery, his status would be temporarily improved but ultimately decline in keeping with his body's proclivity. We acknowledged that the idea of a successful stomach transplant was remote since, as

Informed consent is defined as “permission granted in the knowledge of the possible consequences” and is the backbone to honorable physician patient interactions. Unfortunately, throughout history there have been many cases where physicians have used a patient’s lower socioeconomic status to manipulate the obtaining of informed consent. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics predates back to 1847, yet cases continue to arise directly breaking their key principles. These principles include autonomy, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence; and if followed ensure patients receive a high quality of care. Informed consent prior to any participation in experiments or procedures is essential for physicians to act within these guidelines. Autonomy allows patients to have free will and make decisions without coercion. Justice keeps all individuals in mind so resources are distributed fairly and all individuals are treated the same. Beneficence and Non-maleficence focus on the intent of the procedure to do only good and no harm. Even with these principles established there are discrepancies in on how they unfold in a clinical setting. The American Medical Association states physicians should assess their patient’s understanding of their medical condition, the recommended treatments, and document the physician-patient interaction. The Tuskegee, Abdullah vs Pfizer, and The Skid Row Cancer Studies are a few cases where these principles were ignored so physician and big pharmaceutical

Professionals in every field are always confronted with some kind of ethical issues. It has however been noted that these ethical issues become high in magnitude and extent when public officials are involved. Due to the involvement of human life, an industry like healthcare holds ethics in highest regard. Even though these healthcare practitioners are highly trained to deal with issues of these kinds, their decisions can sometimes have a lasting impact on their professional and personal lives (Edwards 2009).

doctors. When a physician cannot come to a definite right, or ethical, conclusion, he or she may

The field of ethics includes the broad study of social morality along with reflections on its norms and practices. Ethical theory and moral philosophy refer to philosophical reflection on morality. Morality can be best defined as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. Philosophical ethics and health care professions focuses on learning what philosophy is and how it contributes to human history, culture, and autonomy, learning how that contribution applies in developing research methods in all searches for knowledge and helps us to understand the differences among the different sciences, learning to better handle facts, values, and definitions by the way of their distinctions in thinking and writing, and learning how to make moral sound arguments in health care contexts and see relations to personal and professional leadership abilities. With the help of RQ 's 1-50, the understanding of why others think the way they do and the self-contradictory principles some people have. One major case that brought up the theory of moral relativism was the Nashu story. Nashu was one of the young teenagers yearly sacrificed to the Undergods by her tribal people for the believed reason that the action prevented volcanic eruptions such as the one that occurred some 80 years before. Her people honored her. Her family and she may have been proud of the sacrifice but she may or may not have gone willingly. Within the class vote, many

In support of the board of directors’ commitment to an IT initiative for the health system, we are evaluating different vendors for the selection of an innovative health system that:

Medical profession has always been an occupation of helping and healing people and medical ethics have become an inseparable part of it for decades. The first advanced concepts of medical ethics, which have reached our modern world from the depths of centuries, were recorded in an ancient Indian book “Ayurveda” (which translates as “Knowledge of life, “Science of life”). The book has summarized the concepts of medical ethics, along with the instructions for a doctor to be compassionate, friendly, kind, enduring, calm and to care about people. “Even with the price of his/her own life the doctor must protect and improve patient’s health” stated in the book. Further improvements were made to medical ethics later in ancient Greece and concepts were summarized in “Hippocratic oath”.