Examples Of Autonomy In The Tuskegee Study

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Autonomy A simple definition of autonomy is that patients are able to participate and decide on treatments concerning their care (Edge and Groves, 2007). In other words, the patients have a voice. In the Tuskegee study, every man in the area was tested and later was put on a list that kept them from getting treatment, joining the war, and leaving town. The government doctors do not ask the men if they wanted to participate in the study. The nurse who participates in the study with the doctors is also forced to deny patient autonomy because of the government’s assumed authority over her. The doctors did not give the patients informed consent or allowed them to have a say in whether or not they wanted to stay in the study (Strait and Diianni, 2011). Because of gender and race, the nurse and black men were forced to stay in this study. Overall, this ethical principle was nonexistent. Confidentiality A basic definition of confidentiality is that information about a patient is not discussed openly (Edge and Groves, 2007). This ethical principle became an issue when the government gave medical facilities lists of people who were in the study. Again, the patients were not informed that they would not be able to …show more content…

In the case of the Tuskegee Study, there was no fairness rather superior and inferior. The men were practically locked in a cage as they were shut off from the world because they could not go off to war or able to leave the town to seek help. The government workers always tracked them down and brought them back to Tuskegee. As the men started to die, the family was given money, also know as life insurance, so they can be buried properly. In the video, one of the men who survived said that the amount of money given was not equal. He said that the insurance increased as the study went on (Strait and Diianni, 2011). That is clearly not a fair distribution of

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