2. ETHICAL REASONING

Question 1

1. Answer the following question.

Answer 1

• A

Question 2

2. Answer the following question.

Answer 2

• A

Question 3

3. What are 7 reasons as to why we need an Ethical code in Medicine?

Answer 3

1. To help resolve disputes between:
   family, patients, physicians and other parties
2. To adhere to professional duty and maintain a clear
   conscience
3. To identify an ethical challenge and not make yourself
   look uninformed
4. To maintain the respect of your patients
5. To maintain respectful relationships with other
   clinicians
6. To maintain some efficiency in decision making and
   the care process
7. To reduce burnout
   (this is because the Physician can have values that go
   against the values of the organisation)

Question 4

4. What 8 negative situations can happen in the absence of Ethics?

Answer 4

1. Ethical Violations
2. Medical Errors
3. The patient feeling that their dignity is not respected
   (the patient feels that they are not heard)
4. There is a lack of trust in the doctor-patient
   relationships
   (this leads to a lack of trust in the profession)
5. There is a lack of adherence to the treatment
6. There is a conflict of interests
7. Patients can experience physical, emotional and
   financial injuries
   (this is caused by inappropriate medical behaviour)
8. Doctors can withhold treatment
   Or they can promote unnecessary treatments
   (this is to meet personal or institutional interests)

Question 5

5. What are the 3 aspects of Ethics in Medicine?

Answer 5

1. An ethical code for practice
2. A corpus for Professional Guidelines
3. A way of reasoning that promotes human good
   and that reflects a virtuous practitioner

Question 6

6. What are the 3 Core Values in Medicine and Medical Ethics?

Answer 6

1. Compassion
2. Competence
3. Autonomy
   (Self-determination)

Question 7

7. What is Compassion?

Answer 7

• it is a concern for a patient’s condition and distress

Question 8

8. What is Competence?

Answer 8

COMPETENCE CAN BE SHOWN IN:
- technology
- science
- culture
- ethics

COMPETENCE:
- is the ability to do something efficiently and
successfully

Question 9

9. What is Autonomy (Self-Determination)?

Answer 9

• it is your individual decision-making procedures
• it is also how you make decisions in a collective setting
• it is the quality of being self-governing

Question 10

10. What is the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 10

Question 11

11. Who was the Hippocratic Oath named after?

Answer 11

• Hippocrates
• he lived during 460 BC- 370 BC

Question 12

12. What happened in 400 BCE with regards to the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 12

• it first appeared

Question 13

13. What happened in the 1500s with regards to the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 13

• it was rediscovered by German Medieval Scholars

Question 14

14. What happened in the 1700s with regards to the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 14

• it was translated to English
• this Oath was incorporated into Western Medicine

Question 15

15. What happened in 1948 with regards to the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 15

• it was adopted by the World Medical Association

Question 16

16. What happened in 1964 with regards to the Hippocratic Oath?

Answer 16

• the Oath was re-written by Louis Lasagna
• this re-written oath has been adopted by many
  medical schools

Question 17

17. Why was the Hippocratic Oath specifically written?

Answer 17

• it was written to prevent self interested doctors from
  harming individual patients in ancient times

Question 18

18. What are two Contemporary Challenges associated with the Hippocratic Oath and Ethics?

Answer 18

1. Abortion
2. Physician-Assisted Suicide

Question 19

19. What is one extreme, polarised ethical stance on Abortion and Physician-Assisted suicide?

Answer 19

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION:
- euthanasia being permissible,
- abandoned embryos used for experimentation,
- selection and destruction of embryos
- sterilisation
- all pose a threat to Hippocratic medicine
- this does not align with the total defence of life

Question 20

20. How has the Hippocratic Oath been edited to fit modern times?

Answer 20

• Abortion is now permitted
• it should be done within a legal and ethical framework

Question 21

21. What is the Declaration of Geneva?

Answer 21

Question 22

22. How would we define “Law”.

Answer 22

• this consists of regulations and principles in a
  community
• these are established by some authority
• they are applicable to the people of the community

THESE REGULATIONS AND PRINCIPLES:
- can be in the form of legislation
- there can also be custom policies that are recognised
- these policies are enforced by judicial decisions

Question 23

23. What is meant by Medical Law?

Answer 23

• these are standards that are established
• there are also principles and procedures that are
  defined
• these all outline how physicians are required to deal
  with ethical issues in patient care and research

Question 24

24. What are 3 examples of Regulatory issues that Medical Practitioners are expected to know how to handle?

Answer 24

1. Medical Licenses
2. Monitoring and Regulation of Clinical Conduct
3. Dealing with misconduct and malpractice

Question 25

25. What is Civil Law?

Answer 25

• this is the law that is concerned with the dealings
  between private individuals or groups

Question 26

26. What is Criminal Law?

Answer 26

• this is the law that is concerned with serious matters
• these matters are serious enough to be considered
  offences against the whole community

Question 27

27. What is Statute Law?

Answer 27

• this is the law that refers to written laws
• these written laws are decided by the legislature
• they can also be decided by an other government
  agency (EG: Acts of Parliament)
• these written laws are relatively difficult to change

Question 28

28. What is Common Law?

Answer 28

• this is the law that is based on precedent or the
  specific case
• it is concerned with decisions made by the judges
• this law is often more mallaeable

Question 29

29. What kind of law do a majority of the cases associated with healthcare revolve around?

Answer 29

• Civil Law

NB:
- some medical cases can be severe enough to become
Criminal Law cases
- such as death due to preventable events or negligence

Question 30

30. What are Personal Ethics?

Answer 30

• this refers to the ethical values and standards that a
  person identifies with
• this is in respect to the people and situations that they
  deal with everyday

Question 31

31. What are Professional Ethics?

Answer 31

• this refers to the ethical guidelines and rules that a
  person must adhere to
• this is in respect to their interactions and dealings in
  their professional life