Module 2 Flashcards
Describe the case of Eloise Dupuis
during childbirth she required a C-section, she refused the blood transfusion she needed, died six days later in the hospital
Jehovah’s witnesses
refuse blood transfusions
Explain the “Hippocratic oath”
physicians in ancient Greece swore upon various gods to uphold ethical standards in their practice of medicine - medical professionals knew what was best for patient’s health
Describe paternalism
the physician, or expert, could make choices and decisions for the patient (thereby limited the patient’s own ability to make choices for themselves), to promote the patient’s own well-being or health
What are substitute decision makers?
person who can make decisions on behalf of the patient themselves
What is autonomy?
A person is autonomous when they can make decisions for themselves or determine for themselves how they want to live their life
What is informed consent?
one of the primary safeguards we use in medicine to strike that balance between respecting patient’s choices and their autonomy and protecting them from potential harm
What do Buchanan and Brock argue?
there is no one standard of competence that can be adequately employed in every scenario
What circumstances is competence based on?
The environment, behaviour of others, a person’s mental state, side effects of medications, factors about a person’s life - can all work to promote or impair a person’s decision making capacities
What are the general capacities for making a given decision? (capacities for communication and understanding) (3)
Ability to communicate, ability to process information, ability to understand the nature of their action
What are the general capacities for making a given decision? (reasoning and deliberation) (4)
ability to draw inferences about the consequences of a choice, ability to compare alternative outcomes, basic probability about uncertain outcomes, capacity to consider potential future outcomes in the present decision
What is considered a set of values or conception of what is good? (3)
A set of values, a conception of what is good, ability to evaluate particular outcomes as benefits or harms, ability to prioritize certain values as more or less important to themselves
What are the two errors possible when we try to balance these two values?
failure to protect a patient from the harmful consequences of their decision, failing to permit a patient to make their own decisions and giving that right to someone else
What is an example of a procedure option requiring low/minimal competence
patient consents to lumbar puncture
What is an example of a procedure option requiring high/maximal competence
patient refuses simple appendectomy
What is a difference between Buchanan and Brock’s view vs. Freedman’s view
What information is really necessary to give a patient to satisfy the ‘informed’ aspect of informed consent and the requirements of informed consent
What is Freedman’s argument?
the two requirements I do see as fundamental in this doctrine (the doctrine of informed consent) are that the choice be responsible and that it be voluntary
Describe a dilemma
if we require that a choice be a responsible one, do we presuppose that there will be someone else to determine whether the choice is actually responsible?
How does Freedman suggest we can avoid the danger of defining “responsible choices”?
ones that we would make if we locate the source of responsibility not in the choice itself, but in the person
what does it mean for consent to be voluntarily given?
the choice to consent to some procedure must be freely given by the patient
What makes a choice involuntary?
if the person making a choice did so under some threat. They would be considered to be under duress or coerced in these cases
What awards can affect the voluntariness of a choice?
Natural contingencies, pressures that are (or are not) consistent with basic freedoms and rights
