The Legal System Of Medical Treatment

Katz states this about informed consent, “to suggest that informed consent with remain a fairy tale as long as the idea of joint decisionmaking, based on commitment to paint autonomy and self-determination, does not become an integral aspect of the ethos of medicine and the law of informed consent” (222).

The Greeks made many influences to their medical practices as well as ours today. Hippocrates was one of the many doctors at the time and he made many new discoveries in medicines which really helped people live longer and made his procedures a lot easier. He was a very trustworthy doctor. He made an oath stating that he wouldn't do anything to put his patients in harm by giving them bad medicines. Instead, he swore to do everything possible to cures patients and help make them feel better. This was known as the Hippocrates Oath (Doc 4). Even to this day, doctors must swear to not do anything that can cause harm to their patients. It's part of their training while in medical school. The only time a doctor can "harm" his or her patients is when the patient signs a

Besides, if a person lacks mental capacity to give valid consent, nurses caring for such a person should be involved in assessing the treatment to be administered. However, they must be “aware of the legislation regarding mental capacity, ensuring that people who lack capacity remain at the centre of decision making and are fully safeguarded.”6 The Mental Capacity Act (2005) offers assistance regarding ‘capacity’. The Act applies to all aged 16 and above and to those with learning disability, dementia, brain injury, autism and mental health issues.

The aim of this essay is to presents a critical analysis over the nursing dilemmas around capacity and her limitation by presenting example from the author’s practical experience. The names of the patients will be replaced with pseudonyms for confidentiality purposes according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council NMC(2015) Code of Conduct. Consent is often misunderstood. Mental Capacity is a complex topic and often health professionals tend to provide treatment which may be in the patient 's best interests but not always in accordance with his will and preferences thus adhering to Personal-Centred Approach. Further will be discussed Assessment of capacity and risk assessment, The Principle of Best Interests, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards(DOLS), accepting Advanced decisions if they are in place. Moral and ethical considerations asociated with mental capacity will be presented throughout the essay.

Acting on behalf of an individual’s best interest, who may lack mental capacity and are unable to make this decision them self.

Sule stated that, “The Patient Bill of Right adopted by American Hospitals Association states that ‘a patient possesses the right to be informed of the medical consequences of his or her actions and decisions and refuse treatment to the extent permitted by the law’. However, this is true only if the patient is in position to understand the consequences of his treatment. Incompetent, senile patients neither have the correct judgment regarding which treatment is appropriate for them, nor are they in a state of understanding the implications of their treatment. In such case, their willingness to grant or deny consent cannot dictate the course of treatment.” Problem with the Act is being able to find that the patient component enough to make such a call. Another issue that Sule stated was on confidentiality and autonomy. According to Sule, “This is another ethical issue erupting from the conflict of patient's rights and professional ethics in nursing job and profession. The Patient Bill of Right makes it mandatory for the medical practitioners to reveal the form and extent of the ailment along with the course of treatment to be undertaken by the practitioners. However, this law of autonomy clashes with the nursing ethic that the professional should maintain high degree of confidentiality regarding the patient's health and treatment.” This can cause conflicting issues in the NP’s

Another issue with the implementation of Informed consent arises when the patient waives the right to Informed consent and leaves the right to make the decision on the physician. Though legally correct, this can cause psychological stress for the physician especially when the decision is about a life threatening medical condition. Moreover, this also makes the patient vulnerable to abuse. (Manthous, DeGirolamo, 2003)

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

Patient informed consent refers to the situation where the patient is fully informed on the consequences of their health care decision after which the patient gives the decision. For there to be informed consent, there are five elements that must be discussed. The first is the nature of the patient's decision then the applicable alternatives to the proposed intervention. Third are the risks, benefits and uncertainties associated with each of the alternatives. Fourth is the assessment of the patient's understanding and last is the acceptance of the intervention or an alternative by the patient. Before the patient's consent is considered to be valid, the patient's competency to make the decision must be addressed. The criteria for evaluating the patient's competency is clearly stated in section 3 of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act which states that provided the person is able to understand, retain and use information provided and to communicate their decision in any way such as talking or sign language, they are competent to make a decision. If a patient is treated against their refusal to consent, it amounts to the tort of battery or can also be considered the crime of assault. In addition to this, laws that touch on human rights reinforce the importance of the protection of the physical integrity of the individual in terms of their right to respect of their private life. Therefore, refusal of medical treatment is a human right.

Every patient has a right to decide on their own course of treatment and freely consent to that treatment. In order to make an educated decision they must be provided with the proper information to make an informed choice (Opinion 8.08 - Informed Consent, 2006). It is the physician’s legal and ethical obligation to provide this information when making their recommendation on treatment. The choices given must be in accordance with good medical practice (Opinion 8.08 - Informed Consent, 2006). The informed consent is the legal policy, either written or verbal, that gives full disclosure of all the information including potential risks that is applicable to the patient’s condition and treatment being offered (Kazmier, 2008).

Each day, men, women and children are put behind bars suffer from lack of access to medical health care. Chronic illnesses go untreated, emergencies are ignored, and patients with serious illnesses fail to receive needed care. A small failure to medical care can turn in to death of an inmate if left untreated. Prisoners are humans whether inmates or not, with normal health issues or diseases. Even a common cold is an example of an illness that needs treatment. A lot with what is wrong with the health care system today, in the United States deals with money. Within prisons, it is an entire different story. The mission of medical care is to diagnose, comfort and cure. These goals are not being achieved within the prison system. Care needs to be given to every inmate, even the most despised and violent one among them all.

Ms. B’s decision to not be treated may be respected for her demonstration of recognizable reasoning despite the strong argument against her aptitude for rational thinking and competency in this situation, or more so - what we know of her character from the study. Thus, greater evidence is seemingly not needed to prove she has or is capable of achieving a competent decision as her person and societal behaviours suggests her disposition was never initially competent. However, with respecting Ms. B’s autonomy requires scrutiny and additional measures to be taken to consult Ms. B on the severity of the consequences of her decision and provide her steps

The medicolegal system across the country has been set up with one goal in mind, knowing how and why a person died, and this has to be done in a way that allows no bias, adheres to standards and provides competency. While the general principle remains the same, the variety of this setup across the states leads to certain shortcomings.

Patient's decision-making is influenced by several factors. Patients may change their decisions, from accepting or refusing treatment depending on the available treatment options. The capacity of the individual to make informed medical decisions can differ as the patient's status changes cognitively, emotionally, and/or physically and as the proposed treatment interventions change. Treatment refusal is a common situation faced by clinicians. Patients do not usually refuse the medical advice if the advice is of good intention. When patients refuse an advice, it indicates some underlying reasons related to the patients or family, factors associated with the physician as well as social and organizational issues.

But a good doctor should make sure his patient is confident and can speak what he feels without feeling intimidated. A patient asking help from a physician may feel vulnerable as they do not have much control on their body and feel defeated. The doctor should give the patient enough opportunity to express that their dignity remain unattacked. As churchill explain why he thinks it is crucial to have a “patient-centered care”, he mentions most time the health care providers “speaks to formal obligations and professional standards rather than patient experiences.” The whole treatment process is “centered on the agency of the clinician rather than the frame of the patient, and both speak in an idiom that is largely foreign to the patients’ lives.” A good health care provider would confirm that the patient understands what is happening and if they feel comfortable with approaching towards the treatment and if so what kind of treatment they would prefer. It 's human nature that we want to be remembered and we want people to remember us as a great being. Just like Broyard mentions, "what would please me most would be a doctor who enjoyed me. I want to be a good story for him, to give him some of