Ethics Flashcards
True or false: One patients sign a statement giving consent, they must continue treatment.
False. Patients may change their minds at any time. Exceptions to the requirement of informed consent include emergency situations and patients without decision-making capacity.
A 15 year-old pregnant girl requires hospitalization for preeclampsia. Is parental consent required?
No. Parental consent is not necessary for the medical treatment of pregnant minors.
A doctor refers a patient for an MRI at a facility they own.
Conflict of interest
Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization can be undertaken for which three reasons?
- Danger to self
- Danger to others
- Gravely disabled (unable to provide for basic needs)
True or false: it is more difficult to justify the withdrawal of care than to have withheld the treatment in the first place.
False. Withdrawing nonbeneficial treatment or treatment a patient no longer wants is ethically equivalent to withholding care.
A mother refuses to allow her child to be vaccinated.
A parent has the right to refuse treatment for their child as long as it does not pose a serious threat tot he well-being of the child.
When can a physician refuse to continue treating a patient on the grounds of futility?
When there is no rationale for treatment, maximal intervention is failing, a given intervention has already failed, and treatment will not achieve the goals of care.
An 8 year-old child is in a serious accident. She requires emergent transfusion, but her parents are not present.
Treat immediately. Consent is implied in emergency situations.
A 15 year-old girl seeking treatment for an STD asks that her parents not be told about her condition
Minors may consent to care for STDs without parental consent or knowledge
Conditions in which confidentiality must be overridden:
- Real threat of harm to 3rd parties
- Suicidal intentions
- Elder and child abuse
- Certain contagious diseases
Involuntary commitment or isolation for medical (not psychiatric) treatment may be undertaken for what reason?
When treatment noncompliance represents a serious danger to public health (e.g. active TB)
A 10 year-old child presents in status epilepticus, but her parents refuse treatment on religious grounds.
Treat because the disease represents an immediate threat to the child’s life. Then seek a court order.
A son asks that his mother not be told about her recently discovered cancer
A physician can withhold information from the patient only in the rare case of therapeutic privilege or if the patient requests not to be told.
