Code Of Medical Ethics

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Professional Ethics Paper Ethics in the medical field are very important and should be taken seriously. As a medical professional you will tested daily on making the best choices, using good judgment and being morally responsible for your actions. There are nine principles in the Code of Medical Ethics that in general make up the primary code. As a medical professional you must always consider what is in the best interest of the patient. Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). When determining the proper “Patient-Physician Relationship, the relationship between the patient and physician is based on trust and gives rise to the physicians’ ethical obligations to place a patients’ welfare above their own self-interest” Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). In the example provided in regards to the blood specimen mislabeled case study, Mary, who is a medical assistant has made an error and when realizing her mistake has made a bad judgment call. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions and to avoid any repercussions, Mary decided not to correct the mislabeled blood samples in hopes the results for both patients will come back negative and the mistake will never be found. Mary does not clearly understand how the results of her actions could harm the patients instead of only seeing what possible problems it could cause for herself. I can see how this choice may seem harmless to a person and from an egoist perspective be viewed as doing what would be in the best interest for one’s self in the long term. Keith Goree, et al. (2013) Long term effects could mean that Mary would be fired and she would be out of a job, also it could prevent her from being able to ga... ... middle of paper ... ...r malpractice if a patient were given a surgery based on findings and it turned out they actually did not need the surgery. If you really think about the situation from all aspects it would be really damaging to make a careless choice with others medical information. The most appropriate choice would be to alert the proper people to make sure the patients were aware of their need to return to the office for another blood draw and allow the testing be done knowing the proper person is being considered. A person who values their job and wants to portray good character would clearly know without a doubt that the right choice would be to go with your gut instinct and do the right thing. I am sure this type of problem arises often and it definitely makes me think twice about my own medical concerns and hope that the people handling my tests are doing so carefully!

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