...The Declaration of Helsinki and the Nuremberg code state that in order to obtain for participation in an experiment or research study we have to provide sufficient information in understandable language in order for patients to make an informed judgement about participation. The main goal is to ensure the key components of the informed consent are delivered appropriately, but most importantly that the basic ethical principles of Autonomy, Beneficence and Justice are consistently applied. Robert Veacth presents in his article important questions about the circumstances in which we consider unacceptable the fact that in some cases all three principles will not be fully executed simultaneously and if we can be satisfied if the research proposal...
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...All four principles of Ethics are of significant importance and neither of the can be simply ignored. I personally feel that autonomy is the most important. This is so, because Autonomy speaks for equal rights and respect for all individuals. In a medical context, autonomy provides the right to individuals to freely determine their own choices and decisions. The best part about Autonomy in medical ethics is the fact that, it provides protection to those individuals or groups, that are not deemed capable of making their own decisions. An example of this would be a person who is deemed mentally unfit and suffers from seizures. In this situation, the patient would be handled in a manner where the best available option of treatment is given to him, despite of what he might say. A person's life and the way he chooses to live it, should be a matter of his choice and should be free of interference of others unless he is clearly detrimental to others. Now, one must consider that autonomy may not always be right and may also clash with the doctor’s duty of beneficence. For example, a person whose religion forbids him from accepting a blood transfusion may require one in the situation of an accident. In a situation as such, the patient must be duly informed. The doctor has a duty to strongly advise the patient the risk of not accepting the transfusion but once the risks have been relayed to the patient, his decision must be respected as a final one...
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...other countries than in America. Individualism and justice has been included in the United States foundation of welfare. Citizens feel a level of appropriateness allowing the government to spend tax monies to help an unfortunate person who has exhausted all of his or her energy, strength, and abilities to help himself. Americans further feel the efforts to help are satisfactory if an unreasonable amount of money is not used. Bioethics is a prevelent and sensitive topic of debate in health care. A single mother with children who is particially dependent upon welfare takes it upon herself to pay privately for a single treatment of Invitro Fertilization (IVF). This mother is implanted with several embryos and chooses not to reduce the number of fetuses and successfully delivers multiple premature babies. We must take into account the cost of delivery, care in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and future cost to the Welfare system for all of this mother’s children. Reviewing this issue from a health care professional’s point of view, the four basic principles of ethics, beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence, and social justice, are part of this issue. The Four Basic Principals Autonomy Medicine Net (2011), defines autonomy as the right of a patient to make decisions about the care received without influence from a health care provider. Providing education to a patient is allowed as part of autonomy. Autonomy does not allow the provider to make decisions for the...
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...Resource Allocation The given case presents a problem in micro-allocation of resources. The case involves allocation of limited resources among individual patients in the hospital, more specifically among the patients in the emergency room department. Facts of the Case The case provides us with limited information and leaves us with multiple questions that answer and give us pertinent need-to-know facts. There was a traffic accident that was massive enough to strain the resources in the emergency room. There is a need to find out and know the scope of how massive the accident was; the number of victims involved and their ages; and the gravity of each of the victims’ cases (minor or major injuries, stable or unstable, life-threatening or not). It is essential to note what kinds of resources were strained and limited, was it human resources or materials resources or both. There is a need to find out and know how many ER doctors, nurses, nursing aides were on duty that time; the bed capacity in the ER; and what specific materials were limited (medications, IV lines, syringes, cardiac monitors, etc.). It is also vital to know the severity of the case of the 4-year old son of the hospital board member. There is a need to find out how high the fever was, its onset, duration and any associated symptoms. A complete history of the present illness and past medical history as well as a physical examination will aid in establishing the gravity of the ear infection and the need for...
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...intent Principles * A principles may be defined as a basic truth or general law or doctrine that is used as a basis of reasoning or a guide to action or behavior. Principlism * The Belmont report * Beauchamp and childress’ text The Georgetown mantra * The principles Beneficence * Doing the best of someone well being * It’s going to benefit the patient the some way * An obligations to help others further their important and legitimate interests * Paternalism- consists in the judgment that beneficence trumps autonomy Non-maleficence * Do no harm * We need to make sure were not doing harm to the patients, make the patient understand what treatment they are getting. That the harm is out weighted for benefits. * Respect for autonomy * Respect the choice of the patients, and protect the people who can’t make choices themselves Justice * We need to solve the end results and providing the patient with justice Types of paternalism * Weak paternalism * Where an agent intervenes on ground of beneficence to prevent substantially nonautonomous conduct * Strong Paternalism * Where an agent intervenes on ground of beneficence to prevent substantially autonomous conduct...
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...Introduction Ethical decision-making is a process where one decides on a course of action based on ethical and professional principles. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence are often brought into consideration in ethical dilemmas. Healthcare professionals often use these ethical principles as a premise to make morally sound judgements on care provision. Ethical dilemmas surface when these principles conflict with one another. The correct course of action is not clearly defined and the decisions made may be challenged. Decisions made on moral grounds are often intrinsically complex and intricate. This essay will cover the principles of distributive justice, autonomy, and beneficence. Drawing from personal experience, three individual case pertaining to each principle are provided to illustrate how each principle is either observed or breached. A conclusion is presented at the end of each case study to summarize the ethical reasoning and concepts discussed. A final conclusion will also be presented at the end of the essay to provide closure to the discussion. Distributive Justice Case Study: Dr Adams is a physician working in an acute medical ward. During his shift, he reviewed two critically ill patients. Patient A was an 80-year old lady with thrombocytopenia secondary to lymphoma with a low haemoglobin level. She had been receiving palliative care prior to admission. Patient B was a 50-year old man with an actively bleeding...
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...Ethical Health Care Issues Paper Sylvia Clarkson HCS/545 December 17, 2014 Dr. Michael Grossman According to Emanuel Medical Center, Ethics in healthcare is defined as doing the right thing for the patient - providing care and treatment that deliver medical benefits, reflect what's important to the patient's well-being, and respect what the patient wants (Emanuel Medical Center, 2014). Health Care ethics is concerned with the implementation of well researched decisions while taking into cognizance the patients’ religious and cultural beliefs, and wellbeing in relation to the treatment that is rendered unto the patient. It is mandatory by healthcare professionals to abide by medical ethics principles, most especially when dealing directly with patients. Some professionals confront the ethical issues directly while others turn away (Colonel John S. Murray, PhD, RN, USAF, NC, 2014). How individuals respond to these ethical dilemmas depends on their previous experiences with unethical behavior, their individual personality traits, and their ethical values, as well as their knowledge of ethical principles (Clancy, 2003). In this modern era, there are certain ethical issues that might arise in relation to a patient’s clinical management. A prominent medical ethical issue is the refusal of a patient for treatment, such as receiving blood transfusion because of his or her belief. The most renowned international religious group of people that refuse...
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...Health Care Issues Natalie Morman HCS/545 June 1, 2015 Dr. Ruth Bundy Ethical Health Care Issues The health care industry has four major ethical principles which are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Autonomy has respect for individuals, beneficence helps others, nonmaleficence does not harm others, and justice has a way of helping with risk and cost. Every individual in the world have rights to life and liberty, which should be highly respected, nurtured, and facilitated. Health care providers should not want to refuse patients when it comes to their medical needs for any type of reasons. There are health care providers who refuse to see patients because of their religion, ethical or moral beliefs. There are patients who refuse medical attention, because they do not trust the health care provider. This paper will discuss the refusal of the health care provider, refusal of the patient, and give a thorough explanation of the four major ethical principles. Refusal of Health Care by Provider According to Sonfield (2005), “The professional standards typically endorse providers the right to step away from providing health care service that violates his or her moral or religious beliefs” (p. 1). Health care providers cannot override a patient’s autonomy if the patient wants an abortion, end-of-life care or other forms of reproductive health care. When health care providers refuse to care for patients they cannot deny patients their own rights...
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...In the context of end-of-life issues and decisions, autonomy and beneficence are concepts which are applicable to ethical principles concerned with judicial medical practices. The roles of autonomy in medical care is an individual’s right to be self-governing – independent to make their own decisions (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p.214). However, personal autonomy can be challenged within the limitation of societal welfare, but also effected by the reciprocated actions of others imposing their autonomy. Thereby forcing our self-direction to concede, which in turn modifies our decisions thus altering actions. Furthermore, free will can be impacted by our individual morals or ethics, such as making decisions based on a respect or consideration...
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...autonomy, beneficence, justice) to support the new system of protection, but also address the inherent tension between them. Angell, Varmus, and Satcher all agree that autonomy is an uncontested requirement. Angell seems to be more concerned with justice as she warns against using "local standard of care"(Angell 848) to exploit and withhold advanced treatment options. Varmus & Satcher confirm focus seems to have shifted from beneficence to justice. However, Varmus & Satcher state that conducting research in collaboration with the developing country is the way to adhere to all three principles especially beneficence. Angell rebuttals that all humans regardless of their physical location respond similarly to the same treatment and that the desire to conduct trials in developing countries is attractive due to cost savings and fewer restrictions. Doing this is reducing beneficence according to Angell. Varmus & Satcher advocate that conducting trials in developing countries even if it could not be offered in US because it may be a beneficence; risks minimized and benefits maximized to both research subjects and others. Nevertheless, they do not support a trial in which the indigenous population could not benefit from the outcome since it would not qualify as...
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...1. Respect for Persons. -- Respect for persons incorporates at least two ethical convictions: first, that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, and second, that persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection. The principle of respect for persons thus divides into two separate moral requirements: the requirement to acknowledge autonomy and the requirement to protect those with diminished autonomy. An autonomous person is an individual capable of deliberation about personal goals and of acting under the direction of such deliberation. To respect autonomy is to give weight to autonomous persons' considered opinions and choices while refraining from obstructing their actions unless they are clearly detrimental to others. To show lack of respect for an autonomous agent is to repudiate that person's considered judgments, to deny an individual the freedom to act on those considered judgments, or to withhold information necessary to make a considered judgment, when there are no compelling reasons to do so. However, not every human being is capable of self-determination. The capacity for selfdetermination matures during an individual's life, and some individuals lose this capacity wholly or in part because of illness, mental disability, or circumstances that severely restrict liberty. Respect for the immature and the incapacitated may require protecting them as they mature or while they are incapacitated. Some persons are in need of extensive...
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...whether individually or in joining. Nevertheless who will make the decisions, ethical considerations in NICU affect greatly the IDT, families and the society. Thus, contexts for ethical decision making is based on four ethical principles, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice (2013). Autonomy Sundean and McGrath noted that the ethical principle of autonomy includes the right to self-determination, truth telling, informed consent, privacy and commitment. The application of this principle can be difficult In the NICU for parents are the ones who act on behalf of their babies. Also, the different point of views on how to present medical aspects to the families. Sundean and McGrath emphasized that professionals came to an understanding that communicating evidence-based facts and considering family values are the reasonable approach reflecting on the autonomy principle. Furthermore, the authors stated the importance on clinicians providing parents the best evidence-based practice for their child clinical situations supposing that parents will act in the best interest of their child (2013)....
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...the four principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice apply to this issue. The most recent person that exercised her autonomy to choose how she died and the time of her death was Brittany Maynard. Brittany died in Oregon, a state which allows physicians to assist terminally ill persons by prescribing life-ending medications (Egan, 2014). Is the right-to-die with dignity by choice ever going to be acceptable in the health care community? Euthanasia is defined as the act of being put to death painlessly by refusing treatment or the withdrawing of life support to avoid suffering the effects of a debilitating illness or incurable disease. According to the legal system, euthanasia is considered murder when assisted and suicide when patients take their lives. In many countries, euthanasia is not allowed and is punishable by law. Oregon became the first state in the United States in 1997 to make physician-assisted suicide legal. Attempts to have the law in Oregon overturned have been unsuccessful (Britannica, 2015). As more consumers become educated on diseases and their debilitating effects, more consumers may choose euthanasia as an alternative to suffering. Autonomy is the act of making one's choices without the controlling influence of others (Morrison, 2011). The law seems to interfere with the choice of euthanasia by not supporting individuals when it is the choice. If the health care community seriously believed in autonomy, then Oregon would not...
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...interventions while there is no constant practice on ethics decision-making occurs in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Ethical struggles in the NICU are usually related to implementation and withdrawal of treatment. As a results, differences on ethical decision making involves the interdisciplinary team (IDT) and parents, whether individually or in joining. Nevertheless who will make the decisions, ethical considerations in NICU effect greatly the IDT, families and the society. Thus, contexts for ethical decision making must be based on four ethical principles that are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice (2013). Autonomy Sundean and McGrath noted that the ethical principal of autonomy includes the right for self-determination, truth telling,...
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...to be part of the practices. Ethical issues continue to be serious issues for discussions in the trends of the health care system. Viewing ethics as the fundamental platform for health care practices, the recognition of rights, an economic issue and shifts in social and family systems throws light on the ethical issues more in the health field (Fernandes & Moreira, 2013). Individual or group ethics of professionals may go a long way to change the organizational values. An organ donation situation occurred in a facility that was of ethical concern, the situation; its ethical implication and evaluation are discussed in this paper. This issue is being evaluated and discussed based on the four ethical principles, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The story of a father and daughter wanting to save each other poses an ethical issue of consent. This is a father who is willing and able to donate his only kidney to his needy daughter. The daughter here is in dire need of a kidney transplant. His father in 1996, according to CNN’s Kahn J.F donated one of his kidneys to his daughter while in jail (2000). The response to the transplant thereof has not been positive. Her father is ready to do an exchange and donate his second and only kidney left to her daughter. This means that the father instead of the daughter will have to go on dialysis for the rest of his life that comes with a huge amount of health risk. This leaves the story a complicated one because the father...
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