Ethics in Medical Practice: Choosing the Best Treatment Method

Ethics in Medical Practice
Name
Institutional affiliation Ethics in Medical Practice Every profession is guided by ethics that assist employees to behave in a professional manner. Ethics guide people in the workplace and are often used to distinguish right from wrong. There exists numerous ethical challenges that can have a significant impact on the well-being of a patient or the health-care setting set by their families (GILLON, 2015). This paper deliberates on the disagreement in treatment methods as an ethical challenge and explores the legal repercussions associated with it. One of the most common problems is the conflict between family members and healthcare professions on the best form of treatment for the patient. In some cases, the family members tend to advocate for the method of treatment they deem fit for their relative. They fail to recognize that medical professions understand the best form of treatment for each patient. The family has a moral obligation of choosing the best type of treatment and criticizing the treatment method they dislike. Patients also fail to adhere to the medical prescription or the methods that the doctors are exerting to treat them (Singer, 2012). It is morally correct to follow the doctor’s orders when given a prescription as the physician has an idea of what your body needs. Patients also have an obligation to refuse treatment methods that they deem dangerous towards their health. The doctor should work hard in coming up with the best approach to treating each patient and take the time to advise the patient on the best and quickest way to recovery. There are many ways within the law that doctors can deal with such situations. For instance, a healthcare practitioner can issue a ‘letter of withdrawal from the case’ to the patient and the family. The letter states that the doctor is no longer willing to continue attending to the patient either because of interference by the family or other reasons for instance failure to adhere to a treatment program. Sometimes back I was faced with the challenge of choosing the best treatment method for a patient. Moreover, the family claimed that it had done sufficient research on the best form of treatment for their relative. The patient was recently diagnosed with cancer which could have been treated with just chemotherapy, but the family wanted an operation done on the patient to ensure minimal chances of cancer reciprocating. There are many ways of cancer treatment for instance chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy (McKnight, 2014). Together with a team of other medical practitioners, we decided that chemotherapy was the best form of treatment as it had minimal risks. Operating on the patient was, however, dangerous since the cancer was near the spinal cord. The family members were somehow convinced that an operation was the best way to eliminate cancer. We called them for a meeting to discuss the best form to handle the case, but they could not be shaken. As a team, we had to consider the repercussion of both treatment methods while also considering others. The relatives even wanted to change the hospital and take the patient to another institution where their grievances would be met. At the sit-down with the family, I explaine...