Pros/Cons

Question 1

Prescribing antibiotics to patient with possible viral illness

Answer 1

Intro: patient is requesting antibiotics, but I believe their illness is caused by a virus, which will not be affected by an antibiotic

Pros:

• patient May benefit from placebo effect
• patient leaves satisfied that they got their wish
• drugs can be prescribed quickly
• I may be wrong about illness; it could be caused by a bacteria

Cons:
Perpetuates idea of “quick fix”
Encourages spread of antibiotic resistance
Side effects
Wastes medical resources
Should only provide care likely to help the patient (appropriate, effective)

Question 2

Prescription drugs (out-patients, outside of hospital) are not insured services in Canada

Answer 2

Pros:
-less money spent by government

Cons:

• people may not fill a prescription or miss a dose/refill because they can’t pay; may ultimately lead to worse health outcomes (hospitalization, long term illness)
• people may go to the hospital to receive the medication for free (ends up being more expensive than treating them in community)

Question 3

Healthcare System US

Answer 3

Pros:

Cons:

• about 15% of people have no insurance coverage at all; may not get the healthcare services they need because they are too expensive for them
• Medicaid (health insurance for the poor) only covers the very very poor, and only for adults with child(ren); run by the state, not the country

Question 4

Canadian Healthcare system

Answer 4

Pros:
-no financial burden on patients (no bankruptcy,

Cons:

• longer wait times
• if people can’t see their physician today, might go to hospital emergency room (costly + can be unpleasant; triaged if of lower importance, end up waiting very long)

Question 5

Forcing pregnant woman to undergo procedure for fetuses’ benefit

Answer 5

Pros:
-benefits fetus (potential to be a person? Is it a person? Debatable)

Cons:
-violates woman’s autonomy (inequality; this would not be required of competent men and non-pregnant women)— here, by treating the fetus as person, treating mother as less than a person
-ruins physician-patient relationship
-places mother at risk, without any therapeutic benefit to her
-medical injunction to harm one patient in order to benefit another = absolute
-

Result: explain benefits and risks, answer questions, ultimately refrain from procedure that woman does not consent to

Question 6

Vaccinating prisoners before rest of population

Answer 6

• would need to look at evidence; how many people in prisons have caught covid, how many have died?
• what are the recommendations from the medical experts?
• how limited is the vaccine supply?

Pros: (vulnerability, risk)

• people in prison are high risk; are in close proximity to others, may not be able to maintain physical distancing; vaccinating them early may be beneficial to prevent suffering
• vaccinate those at high risk first -> mitigate high risk -> bring cases down
• what if outbreak among prisoners -> guard got sick -> his family got sick;
• treating people equally; regardless of their past histories
• what if person was wrongfully convicted? What if he or she was targeted because of their race?
• duty of care; to make sure the people in governments care are safe
• humans have equal moral worth
• priority of rollout: protection of vulnerable people

Cons:
-some people may be offended; people who have committed crimes may be seen as less worthy of protection