Synthesis Paper: Medical Ethics

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Medical ethics is guided by many principles that are all directed to righteousness. It leads medical professionals in doing the proper actions and decisions for the betterment of their patients without compromising the security of themselves and their colleagues. Despite its good intentions, medical ethics has vague concepts that can place the health provider in a dilemma, where there is no clear delineation of what is good or bad. Therefore, medical ethics should serve as a guide while honoring one’s principles for the benefit of the majority.
In the case presented, the patient’s will prohibits the physician from informing the family members about his current health condition. He was just informed that he had Stage II cancer, and he refused to tell his son, prompting the latter to ask the doctor. The physician, out of compassion and concern, told the son, endangering the patient-physician relationship. There was a breach of privacy, prompting the patient to file a case against the doctor.
By analyzing the situation, we can surmise that the physician follows virtue-based ethics. Initially, virtue entails the lack of separation between one’s morals and actions, thereby influencing his decisions. The principal element of virtue is the “good person,” who shall think and do good things under all circumstances. It can be influenced by religion and socio-cultural norms, thereby setting specific traits that an individual must possess to be called a “virtuous person” (Pellegrino 254-255).
A different interpretation was presented during the Classic-Medieval Period. Here, virtue-based ethics was defined as a middle-ground between human nature that can be analyzed by logical reasoning and objective moral order. Several philosophers, such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, provided various interpretations, but the central idea is human happiness. MacIntyre, a post-contemporary philosopher, revised the meaning of virtue ethics and applied it to the medical profession. He defined it as a set of inclinations that are not innate to human nature, but humans are compelled to do so because it sustains the life and order of communities; it maintains noble internal methods; it is essential in nourishing the vanishing traditions and human histories. All-in-all, virtue ethics is necessary to achieve perfection (Pellegrino 259-261).
The weakness of this ideology is that it makes the definition subjective, such that it may be virtuous in one culture and vice in the other. Furthermore, it depends on the individual’s comprehension of reality, and his experiences are of utmost importance in determining his virtuosity (Pellegrino 262-263).
Applying this to the case, we can r...