Ethical Issues Essays

The case of Nancy Cruzan has become one of the landmark cases for withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration because of important ethical issues the case brings to light. At the time of the case, the United States Supreme Court had already established the right of an individual to refuse medical treatment. This issue therefore is not novel to the Cruzan case. Furthermore, there was not any controversy over who was the appropriate decision maker for Nancy Cruzan. The significant issue that the Cruzan case did bring to the table of medical ethics regarded whether or not a substituted decision make could choose to withdraw artificial hydration and nutrition on behalf of another

1. The Mayor of a large city was given a free membership in an exclusive golf club by people who have received several city contracts. He also accepted gifts from organizations that have not done business with the City but might in the future. The gifts ranged from $200 tickets to professional sports events to designer watches and jewelry.

In this paper I am going to identify some the legal and ethical issues in My Sister’s Keeper. Some of those issues include emancipation of a minor, genetic engineering, and limited termination of parental rights. I will be giving my opinion on these matters also.

When Nancy was in a coma they were assigned as her legal guardians until she got better. They argued that if the hospital needed to get their permission, as legal guardians, to insert the tube to Nancy, their request, as legal guardians, to take the tube out should be respected. They also argued that the huge cost of Nancy's treatment "could be better spent on medical procedures for children facing death." (Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health (1990). (n.d.). Retrieved

After 3 years of hoping Nancy would get better the Cruzan family decided that taking Nancy of the feeding and hydration tube is what Nancy would have wanted and what they thought was best. However the Cruzan's request was refused by the Missouri Department of Health. They believed they needed clear and convincing evidence that taking their daughter of the feeding and hydration tube is what Nancy would have really wanted. The Cruzans disagreed they thought that as her legal guardians they would speak for the decision she can not physically make. The Cruzans then took this to local court, but the case did not stop their. It made its way to the Supreme Court and became known as Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health. Final outcome of the case was 5-4 in favor of the Missouri Department of Health. "The Court felt that the Cruzan case was best explored in the area of 'liberty' rather than 'privacy.' The Supreme Court upheld the authority of States to demand “clear and convincing” evidence of the injured person's wishes."(Cruzan by Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved December 8, 2015, from

Autonomy includes three primary conditions: (1) liberty (independence from controlling influences), (2) agency (capacity for intentional action), and (3) understanding (through informed consent) (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 100). According to Beauchamp & Childress (2009) to respect autonomous agents, one must acknowledge their right to hold views, to make choices, and to take actions based on their personal values and beliefs (p. 103). Respect for autonomy implies thaturges caregivers to respect theassist a patient in achieving? Heed? the autonomous choices of their patients. From there, patients can act intentionally and with full understanding when evaluating medical treatment modalities. Autonomy also includes a set of rules, one of which requires that providers honor patient decision-making rights by providing the truth, also known as veracity (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 103). In this case, several facets of the principle of respecting autonomy, specifically veracity, informed

“Physicians, nurses, and pharmacists are increasingly claiming a right to the autonomy not only to refuse to provide services they find objectionable, but even to refuse to refer patients to another provider and, more recently, to inform them of the existence of legal options for care” [1]. “Conscience clauses” have been adapted by at least 45 states in attempt to balance a medical professional’s conscientious objection to performing certain procedures or prescribing certain medications with the “profession’s obligation to afford all patient’s nondiscriminatory access to services” [1]. While the conscience clause was initially instituted to allow physician’s to opt out of performing abortions after they were legalized, it seems that this

The Cruzan verses Director, Missouri Department of Health was a United States Supreme Court case involving a young adult, Nancy Cruzan that was deemed incompetent. The case caught widespread attention as it was the first case ever heard by the court that discussed how and when families could decide to withdraw nourishment or medical treatment in order to bring about the death of an incompetent family member. (Wold, Judith & Demi, 1991). For 8 years, Nancy Cruzan had been in a vegetative state showing no sign of improvement. After being in the hospital for over a month, Cruzan’s family went to the courts to request the artificial feeding and hydration be terminated so that their daughter could die a dignified

Creating and defining my own ethical framework is essential in future success as a businessman, a leader, and a team player. As a business student, I have learned that it can be a very cut throat industry and in order to get ahead, at some point and ethical dilemma will undoubtedly be an obstacle I have to overcome. The way I handle these dilemmas can make or break my career; business ethics are a key part of earning and sustaining respect, trust, and a good rapport with both clients and competitors in your industry. Therefore a solid ethical framework is an important tool for me to have as a standard for handling these types of dilemmas so that I can grow successfully while staying true to myself and to

Before a health care organization implements an EMR system, they should have a security system in place, which includes “access control” component. Access control within an EMR system is controlled by distinct user roles and access levels, the enforcement of strong login passwords, severe user verification/authorization and user inactivity locks. Health care of professionals regardless of their level, each have specific permissions for accessing data. Even though the organization have the right security system in place to prevent unauthorized users from access patient records, autonomous patients will expect to have access to his or her records with ease. Access their record will ensure that their information is correct and safe.

The right of an incompetent patient is one of the greatest issues. If the incompetent patients lose the power to speak, or make decisions, patient’s family usually makes the alternatives in the patient’s health care. It becomes hard when the family’s decision relates to a patient’s life. The issues include withdrawn of hydration, nutrition, and oxygen are parts of the difficulty of reaching a determination. The Nancy Cruzan is the substantial case in this matter. This event is called “right to become flat,” several state courts addressed that issue, but they are still in contention. And so, the Supreme Court has to break the law in this important region because it pertains to many aspects such as religious, moral, and medical decision making. The Cruzan case led to a

An ethical dilemma is an incident that causes us to question how we should react based on our beliefs. A decision needs to be made between right and wrong. I have experienced many ethical dilemmas in my lifetime, so I know that there is no such thing as an ethical dilemma that only affects one person. I also know that some ethical dilemmas are easier to resolve than others are. The easy ones are the ones in which we can make decisions on the spot. For example, if a cashier gives me too much change, I can immediately make a decision to either return the money or keep it. Based on Kant’s, categorical imperative there are two criteria for determining moral right and wrong. First, there is universalizability, which states, “the person’s

I was born in the late 1950s and spent my childhood in the 1960s and teen years in the 1970s. My upbringing was shaped very much, by how I was taught and raised. My parents were both members of a conservative religious organization and so with that said I learned this way of thought. We were raised to believe that the 10 commandments were the basis of all things right and wrong, that if we followed them our lives would be as God wanted. Not to mention our parents! As a child, we first believe all that our parents teach us. They are like God to us and must be right no questions asked. I had by then

Autonomy applies to the profession of nursing because the patient should always be allowed to make decisions regarding their care while being treated with respect and dignity; however, autonomy can serve as a limiting agent when the patient decides to refuse care that would be of benefit to them. Autonomy is a sensitive issue because it allows the patient to choose to die and all health care can do from that point is allow the patient to do so comfortably. With healthcare always being one step ahead, it allows a surrogate to serve as a voice piece for that patient when they are unable to make decisions. However, that surrogate can end up making decisions they think is best for the patient ignoring the patients’ will. The responsibility of the nurse and interdisciplinary team is to inform and educate the patient and patient’s surrogate on all aspects of care to include medical diagnosis, treatment, and care plan so that the patient and

The word “ethics” comes from Greek ethikas meaning character. Today, we use ethics to describe the normative standard of behavior. The history of philosophical ethics has been broken up into five rational methods: Virtue, Traditional, Modern, and Post-Modern Ethics. Within these periods, the philosophy of ethics changed along with the changes being made within society.