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affects not just herself and this one patient but other physicians and
patients as well.
BACK TO THE CASE STUDY – D
According to the analysis of the physician-patient relationship,
Dr.P’s conduct was deficient in several respects: (1) Communication –
he made no attempt to communicate with the patient regarding the
cause of her condition, treatment options or her ability to afford to
stay in the hospital while she recovered; (2) Consent – he did not ob-
tain her informed consent to treatment;
(3) Compassion – his dealings with her displayed little compas-
sion for her plight. His surgical treatment may have been highly com-
petent and he may have been tired at the end of a long shift, but that
does not excuse the breaches of ethics.
3. Comment on the additional case studies.
Contraceptive advice to a teenager
Sara is 15 years old. She lives in a town where sexual assaults are
becoming more and more frequent. She comes to your clinic asking
for a prescription for oral contraceptives to protect her from pregnancy
in case she is the victim of a sexual assault. Pregnancy would termi-
nate her education and make it very difficult to find a husband. Sara
tells you that she does not want her parents to know that she will be
using contraceptives because they will think that she intends to have
sex with a boyfriend. You are suspicious of Sara’s motives but you
admire her determination to avoid pregnancy. You advise her to come
to the clinic with her parents for a general discussion of the issue with
you. Three days later she returns alone and tells you that she tried to
speak to her parents about the issue but they refused to discuss it.
Now what should you do?
A premature infant
Max was born during the 23 rd week of pregnancy. He is ventilated
because his lungs are very immature. Moreover, he suffers from cere-
bral bleeding because his vessel tissue is still unstable. It is unlikely
that he will actually survive the next few weeks. If he does, he will
probably be severely handicapped both mentally and physically.
Max’s condition worsens when he develops a serious infection of the