Ethics in healthcare

1. Consider the issue of doctor-patient confidentiality from the patient’s perspective. As a patient, do you think your doctor has an absolute duty to maintain your confidentiality, or are there some circumstances in which you think your doctor would be right to violate your confidentiality?

2. In your own words, explain how Fleck and Angell each answer the main question posed for this case study: “Would Carlos’s physician be morally justified in breaching patient confidentiality on the grounds that he had a ‘duty to warn’?” Of the two, which do you think gives the better answer, and why?

3. Identify some differences between medical ethics and nursing ethics discussed by Sarah Breier-Mackie.  

4. What practical and/or ethical problems does Howard Brody identify for the community-practice and conversation standards for informed consent?

5. Which of these does Brody recommend: the community practice, conversation, or transparency standard? Do you agree with him: why or why not?

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