Ethics

Write 2-3 paragraphs about the following situation. A dentist from the Bahamas has moved to the United States. To get a license as a dentist takes quite a while, and in the meantime she has become a licensed dental assistant here. Her boss knows that she has years of experience as a dentist and he asks her to perform a root canal. She’s done dozens of root canals over the years, and even though she knows she’s not currently licensed to perform the procedure, she does it. The root canal is a success. What’s the moral value of the assistant carrying out the procedure according to your own ethical views? In order to justify your position, you will need to determine which factors are morally relevant and explain why they are important. You may wish to explicitly use principles you’ve learned from ethical theories covered in the class, but you do not have to. 

 Things to consider:

            How was this patient affected? How serious are these effects? Was her act legal? If she knows what she’s doing, and if things go well for her, her boss, and the patient, is her act moral? What’s the purpose of having different licensing requirements for various procedures?