Writer Choice
43568Review the following lecture:
Contemporary Ethical Dilemmas
Discussion Questions
Before beginning work on this discussion forum, please review the link “Doing Discussion Questions Right” and any specific instructions for this topic.
Before the end of the week, begin commenting on at least two of your classmates’ responses. You can ask technical questions or respond generally to the overall experience. Be objective, clear, and concise. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress. Submit your responses in the Discussion Area.
Introduction:
As healthcare administrators, there are a number of legal and ethical issues that may need your consideration.
Review the following case study and address the questions that follow:
From 1930 to 1960, about 5,000 patients at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, located in Chicago, Illinois, were treated with x-ray therapy for some benign conditions of the head and neck. Among them was Joel Blaz, now a citizen of Florida, who received this treatment for infected tonsils and adenoids while he was a child in Illinois from 1947 through 1948. He has suffered various tumors, which he now attributes to this treatment. Blaz was diagnosed with a neural tumor in 1987.
In 1974, Michael Reese set up the Thyroid Follow-Up Project to gather data and conduct research among the people who had been subjected to the x-ray therapy. In 1975, the program notified Blaz by e-mail that he was at increased risk of developing thyroid tumors because of the treatment. In 1976, someone associated with the program gave him similar information on a phone call and invited him to return to Michael Reese for evaluation and treatment at his own expense, which he declined to do.
Dr. Arthur Schneider was placed in charge of the program in 1977. In 1979, Schneider and Michael Reese submitted a research proposal to the National Institutes of Health stating that a study based on the program showed “strong evidence” of a connection between x-ray treatments of the sort administered to Blaz and various sorts of tumors: thyroid, neural, and others. In 1981, Blaz received but did not complete or return a questionnaire attached to a letter from Schneider in connection with the program. The letter stated that the purpose of the questionnaire was to “investigate the long-term health implications” of childhood radiation treatments and to “determine the possible associated risks.” It did not say anything about “strong evidence” of a connection between the treatments and any tumors.
In 1996, after developing neural tumors, Blaz sued Michael Reese’s successor, Galen Hospital in Illinois, and Dr. Schneider, alleging, among other things, that they failed to notify and warn him of their findings and that he might be at a greater risk of neural tumors in a way that might have permitted their earlier detection and removal or other treatment. There is a clear duty to warn the subject of previously administered radiation treatments when there is a strong connection between those treatments and certain kinds of tumors. The harm alleged, neural and other tumors would here be reasonably foreseeable as a likely consequence of the failure to warn and was in fact foreseen by Schneider.
A reasonable physician, indeed any reasonable person, could foresee that if someone was warned of “strong evidence” of a connection between treatments to which he or she had been subjected and tumors, he or she would probably seek diagnosis or treatment and perhaps avoid these tumors, and if he or she was not warned, then he or she probably would not seek diagnosis or treatment, increasing the likelihood that he or she would suffer from such tumors. Other things being equal, therefore, a reasonable physician would warn the subject of the treatments.
Tasks:
Discuss the ethical and legal principles violated in this case.
Discuss the preventative measures that should be taken to prevent recurrence of such cases.
To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.
Your initial posting should be addressed at 300–500 words as noted in the attached PDF. Submit your document to this Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.
Respond to your classmates throughout the week. Justify your answers with examples, research, and reasoning. Follow-up posts need to be submitted by the end of the week.
Rubrics
Contemporary Ethical Dilemmas
While a number of legal and ethical issues are present in modern healthcare, there are some that are more commonly seen by administrators. In this lecture, we will take out some time to reflect on various ethical dilemmas or scenarios in which individuals may find it difficult to make decisions. Current healthcare ethics are impacted by previous events ranging from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to informed consent legislation to sequencing of the human genome. As a healthcare administrator, you may have a number of organizational policies, supported by enacted legislation, to support your decision in various cases. The cases you will most likely contend with include:
Abortion: Termination of a pregnancy before a fetus is viable; the term viability is hotly debated between those who do and do not support the right to choose.
Sterilization: Termination of the ability to have children via vasectomy or tubal ligation; voluntary sterilization poses some ethical concerns, but the real issues stem from efforts at eugenic sterilization.
Artificial insemination: Process to impregnate a female in a manner other than sexual intercourse; ethical dilemmas, concern for the offspring, and risk of multiple births arise over the process itself.
Surrogacy: Reproduction method where a woman agrees to give birth to a child that will be given to a contracted party; primary concerns are the exchange of a body for money and potential psychological impacts.
Organ transplantation: Procedure to replace a failing organ with a viable organ from a donor; the National Organ Procurement Act of 1984 makes it illegal to buy or sell organs, but there can be ethical issues with donor families feeling pressured or perceptions of unfair selection processes.
Each of these scenarios presents unique challenges to healthcare administrators; however, guidance from organizational and legislative policies helps to remove some of these challenges. Following federal, state, and organizational regulations is a key aspect of the administrator position, and knowledge of such information is imperative to your success in healthcare organizations.
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