The importance of honesty cannot be overstated in the professional setting. It would be unethical and immoral for a judge to preside over a case where he has a conflict of interest. It would be disastrous for a police officer to lie under oath about someone going over the speed limit. As humans we all suffer from the human condition, which is that we have weaknesses, we are imperfect and we are all highly capable of mistakes. However, there exists a profession in which the ramification of these mistakes and imperfections can be most deadly. Medicine is one of the few highly regarded fields in which the professionals are able to dictate their own standards. The importance and magnitude of this liberty to self-govern can be a boon to those practicing within the ethical and moral confines, however, breaking the trust of self-governance as a profession not only puts the offender in peril but the integrity of the institution as well. Dishonesty as it relates to three aspects of medicine in particular will be discussed in this essay: Dishonesty as it relates to medical training, in particular, during medical school, Dishonesty as it relates to postgraduate medical work/career and lastly dishonesty as it relates to medical advancement, publications and data.
Medical school is the defining moment for a young physician. They finally are able to begin their journey into the depths of the human anatomy, the perils of disease and the wonder of therapy. It is not a well-kept secret that medical students often try and secure any advantage they could in order to place themselves in a more favorable position in such a highly competitive environment. Numerous studies show that as high as 50% of students cheat during medical school . Further...
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...le enough concept. However, in the light of competition and stress it is often hard to stay truthful to the truth. The human condition is such that we give in to temptations and shortcomings of our beings. If there is an easier route we as humans are more likely to take it. However, because of the gift of self-governance when it comes to the medical profession we have to be our own biggest critics. It is of paramount importance for the medical community to police itself in a manner that doesn’t encourage dishonesty, fraud and misrepresentation of fact. Dishonesty is a cancer that has a stranglehold on the medical community and just like any other cancer it has to be treated aggressively and has to be fought again from within. But, just like cancer, if dishonesty keeps reemerging even after aggressive treatment, it can lead to the downfall of a proud profession.
Rhodes, R. and Strain, J.J. (2004) Whistleblowing in academic Medicine. Journal of Medical Ethics. 30 (1)
Doctors are well respected within the realm of American society and are perceived with the highest regard as a profession. According to Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics in Profession polls, 67% of respondents believe that “the honesty and ethical standards” of medical doctors were “very high.” Furthermore, 88% of respondents polled by Harris Polls considered doctors to either “hold some” or a “great deal of prestige”. Consequently, these overwhelmingly positive views of the medical profession insinuate a myth of infallibility that envelops the physicians and the science they practice. Atul Gawande, in Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, provides an extensive view of the medical profession from both sides of the operating table
He said, “Studies of specific types of error, too, have found that repeat offenders are not the problem. The fact is that virtually everyone who cares for hospital patients will make serious mistakes, and even commit acts of negligence, every year. For this reason, doctors are seldom outraged when the press reports yet another medical horror story. They usually have a different reaction: This could be me. The important question isn’t how to keep bad physicians from harming patients; it’s how to keep good physicians from harming patients” (658). Like Gawande asked—how do you keep good physicians from harming patients? Even the best of doctors and surgeons manage to make mistakes that led to being sued or even worst—they get to experience the death of their
This paper will examine This paper will examine the Confidentiality and Doctor Patient Relationship .In the rules of law and ethics that information between the doctor and patient should stray confidential the physician should not leak confidential information that the patient did not want this information revealed to others, confidential between the patient and the doctor is very important. It is based on trust and if these are the information were not protected will cease to trust in the doctor-patient relationship would be diminished. Patients should be informed about the information being held about to them, why and how they may be shared, and who may be shared with
The Beecher cases provided an interesting insight into the way that unethical activity can be a pernicious force, and showed no institution is safe from its effects. There are several factors that should be examined when answering the question of why these highly esteemed physicians would take part in activities that most in modern day medicine would consider to be deplorable. These include: physician’s prejudices against their patients, possible ethical ideologies the doctor may have warped to fit their agendas, and the fact that sometimes the quest for recognition that is often a driving force behind scientific discovery can trump the welfare of individuals. These reasons are in no means exhaustive, and it is likely that for each of the cases
Judson, K, & Harrison, C. (2010). Law & ethics for medical careers. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
In the medical field, there are many ethical dilemmas that a person could face. One of the major dilemmas in the medical field comes from being a doctor. While attending to a patient/ client the doctor may not know the best treatment or course of action to take because of the many options there could be. The values and beliefs of a doctor can’t interfere with the treatment of a patient/client. Their job is to be honest, benevolent, respectful, and to maintain confidentiality of the patient/client.
One day while doing his job, a physician used a used swab that was possibly infected with HIV on another patient. When looked at by certain people, the doctor did the correct thing by telling his patient that he roused a swab on him/her. However, the chances of this patient getting HIV was substantially low, and he should have waited for the patient to develop symptoms, which would have been rare, before telling the truth. As stated by Michael Greenberg, “he might have done better by keeping his mouth shut.” If the doctor did lie, he could have lied to protect himself, the quality of life of the patient, and his ability to help others with their lives. If he had not told the patient that he used the swab on him/her, he/she would not have had to live in fear of getting HIV. Because of this decision of truth telling, the doctor lost his job, money, confidence, and also affected someone’s quality of life.
Albert Jonsen, the author of “A Short History of Medical Ethics”, covers more than two thousand years of renowned medical history in a mere hundred and twenty pages. He covers many cultural customs and backgrounds involving medical discourse, beliefs, and discoveries which have led to the very formation of the distinguished society we live in today. However, throughout this brief tour, Jonsen exploits the fact that even though there have been many cultural differences, there are a few common themes which have assimilated over the years and formed the ethics of medicine. The most prevalent themes of ethics presented in Jonsens text, are decorum, deontology and politic ethics. Decorum is referred to as both the professional etiquette and personal virtues of medicine. Deontology refers to rules and principles, and politic ethics expresses the duties physicians have to the community.
One of the most complex, ever-changing careers is the medical field. Physicians are not only faced with medical challenges, but also with ethical ones. In “Respect for Patients, Physicians, and the Truth”, by Susan Cullen and Margaret Klein, they discuss to great extent the complicated dilemmas physicians encounter during their practice. In their publication, Cullen and Klein discuss the pros and cons of disclosing the medical diagnosis (identifying the nature or cause of the disease), and the prognosis (the end result after treating the condition). But this subject is not easily regulated nor are there guidelines to follow. One example that clearly illustrates the ambiguity of the subject is when a patient is diagnosed with a serious, life-threatening
In “Should Doctors Tell the Truth?” Joseph Collins argues for paternalistic deception, declaring that it is permissible for physicians to deceive their patients when it is in their best interests. Collins considers his argument from a “pragmatic” standpoint, rather than a moral one, and uses his experience with the sick to justify paternalistic deception. Collins argues that in his years of practicing, he has encountered four types of patients who want to know the truth: those that want to know so they know how much time they have left, those who do not want to know and may suffer if told the truth, those who are incapable of hearing the truth, and those who do not have a serious diagnosis (605). Collins follows with the assertion that the more serious the condition is, the less likely the patient is to seek information about their health (606).
Truth in medicine is a big discussion among many medical professionals about how doctors handle the truth. Truth to a patient can be presented in many ways and different doctors have different ways of handling it. Many often believe that patient’s being fully aware of their health; such as a bad diagnosis, could lead to depression compared to not knowing the diagnosis. In today’s society doctor’s are expected to deliver patient’s the whole truth in order for patients to actively make their own health decisions. Shelly K. Schwartz discusses the truth in her essay, Is It Ever Ok to Lie to Patients?. Schwartz argument is that patients should be told the truth about their health and presented and addressed in a way most comfortable to the patient.
The most common areas of clinical practice where truth-telling and deception become an ethical dilemma are critical care, cancer and palliative care, mental health and general nursing practice (Tuckett, 2004). Other areas where it can raise potential ethical concerns are in placebo therapy, disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus and informed consent (Tuckett, 2004). Truth-telling is also an act of exchanging moral agents (patients, relatives, nurses) with their sets of values and norms, which in turn are derived from culture, personal and religious beliefs, and traditions (Dossa, 2010). For this reason, the issue of truth-telling is not only approached differently in the various clinical settings but also in different countries, cultures and religions (Kazdaglis et al., 2010). For example, in the United States of America (USA), England, Canada and Finland, the majority of patients are told of their diagnosis (Kazdaglis et al., 2010). Conversely, in Japan, family members play a major role in the decision of ...
Consequently, it can be assumed that doctors might tend to avoid such a confession in order to maintain their image of being a “good doctor” (J.Shahidi). Not being a good doctor may eventually lead to doctor’s loss of business and as a result physicians may tend to hide the truth even if it opposes patient autonomy
Jesus said that He is “the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (JN 14:6, KJV). Jesus is truth. God is light. The Bible is clear about the importance of honesty. “He that walketh upright walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known” (PR10:9. KJV). Walking upright is integrity. It is from this concept that the sayings related to hanging one’s head with shame have come. In society, we should all be ashamed, for it has become a place where integrity is a foreign thought, and the classroom has become a place where cheating is too common.