Ethics_RR Flashcards
True or false:
Once 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 pre-eclampsia. 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 he owns. What is this an example of?
A conflict of interest
Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization can be undertaken for which three reasons?
The patient is:
1) a danger to himself;
2) a danger to other; or
3) gravely disabled and unable to provide for basic needs.
True or false:
It is more difficult to justify the withdrawal of futile care than to have withheld the treatment in the first place.
False.
Withdrawing a non-beneficial treatment is ethically similar to withholding a non-indicated one.
Can a parent refuse to allow his or her child to be vaccinated?
A parent has the right to refuse treatment for his or her child as long as it does not pose a serious threat to the well-being of the child.
When can a physician refuse to continue treating a patient on the grounds of futility?
When any of the following occurs:
1) there is no rationale for treatment,
2) maximal intervention is failing,
3) a given intervention has already failed, and
4) a 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. What is the next best step in management?
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. What do you do?
You follow the minor’s wishes. Minors may consent to care for STDs without parental consent or knowledge.
What are conditions in which confidentiality must be overridden?
1) Real threat of harm to third parties;
2) Suicidal ideation;
3) Certain contagious diseases; and
4) Child abuse
Involuntary commitment or isolation for medical treatment may be undertaken for what reason?
When treatment non-compliance represents a serious danger to public health (i.e. active TB).
A 10-year old child presents in status epilepticus, but her parents refuse treatment on religious grounds. What do you do?
Treat the child immediately, because the disease represents an immediate threat to the child’s life. After treating the child, seek a court order.
A son asks that his mother not be told about her recently discovered cancer. What do you do?
A physician can withhold information from the patient only in the rare case of therapeutic privilege or if the patient refuses to be told. A patient’s family cannot require the physician to withhold information from the patient.
