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The Right Of Privacy Vs. Medical Ethics

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The Right of Privacy v. Medical Ethics Child abuse and neglect can result from physical, emotional, or sexual harm. Most often, child harm originates from the presence of an action (abuse) rather than the absence of it (neglect). Physical abuse involves a non-accidental harming of a child, verbal abuse involves harming or threats of harm to a child. Child abuse and neglect is defined by the State of South Wisconsin as “the physical abuse, sexual abuse, willful cruelty, unlawful corporal punishment, and neglect of any minor by any person” (Nelson, 2014). The State of South Wisconsin requires health practitioners and child care custodians to report child abuse and neglect to local law enforcement or Child Protection Services (CPS) …show more content…

2. The insufficiency of State 's interest.
3. The psychological repercussions toward minors.
4. The Hippocratic oath in medical ethics.

The Constitution guarantees individual 's inalienable right of privacy which have been interpreted further as a “right of substantive sexual privacy” (Nelson, 2014). I argue that the right of privacy in the Constitution can be generalized and applied to minors. On the basis of that application, the right of privacy should outweigh the duty of health care practitioners and child care custodians to report possible child abuse and neglect cases. Since the right of privacy are inalienable, I argue that minors also have “an interest in controlling the circulation of personal information” (Nelson, 2014), which in this case refers to sexual privacy. The duty of health care practitioners and child care custodians is to “act in the best interest of the patient and of confidentiality” (Markel, 2004) which requires them to refrain from announcing personal information itself. In several cases, where circumstances arise in a binding manner, the State is allowed to intervene. The intervention allowed the State to overrule the plaintiff 's interest, if there are “compelling State interests, provided that these interests are achieved by reasonable means that restrict the privacy right as little as practicable under the circumstances” (Nelson, 2014). This statement, in itself is a predicament. What are as little as practicable

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