Utilitarianism and Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics
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Institution/ Affiliation
Medical ethics
Like any other profession, doctors are confronted with ethical dilemmas that often leave them at crossroads. From complex telemedicine issues to physician-assisted deaths, physicians must make essential decisions that mean the life or death of patients. Besides, physicians encounter challenges including the placebo effect, delivering negative news to patients, treating disadvantaged patients, and organ buying, to mention a few (Menon & Padhy, 2020). For doctors, taking the Hippocratic Oath is as easy as lip service, but executing it is a nightmare physicians have to encounter. Notably, the Hippocratic Oath crux that asks doctors to “do no harm” is indeed easier said than done, but then again hard to abide, especially in the complex healthcare industry characterized by dynamic advancements in technology and medicine.
The current shattering pandemic, the coronavirus, has distracted the global population and prompted a remarkable upsurge of patients in intensive care units, raising moral issues not only on triage and withdrawal of treatment decisions but also the quality of end-of-life support and family involvement in care. With high numbers of deaths and new infections every day, the pandemic has shaken up medical ethical principles and sharpened doctors’ ethical dilemmas while stimulating suffering (Menon & Padhy, 2020). As such, different approaches have been proposed to streamline triage policies in combination with moral rationalizations. Nonetheless, regardless of the method taken, disparity amid utilitarian and personal morals leads to profound concerns that doctors need to overcome (Menon & Padhy, 2020). With this in mind, and also the ever-growing number of infection as well as overcrowded healthcare facilities, it is morally just able to allow some patients to die in order to save a large number of them.
The massive influx of patients caused by the covid-19 pandemic has raised ethical interrogations on the ultimate amendment of hospital admittance standards to the disadvantage of most susceptible populations. The decision for doctors and healthcare facilities to decline coronavirus patients' admission to intensive care units has been widespread across the world. Nonetheless, numerous guidelines have been developed to ensure respect for patients, guarantee fairness, and avoid irrational obstinacy (Robert et al, 2020). Theoretically, doctors are required to make consistent decisions that are in the best interest of the patients. Unfortunately, the demand for admission amidst the extreme shortage of ICU beds have significantly increased. As such, physicians can't care for all patients with the current health care capacity. To worsen the physicians’ decision-making is the higher risk of mortality for covid-19 patients who cannot be admitted to the hospitals due to lack of ICU beds, delayed admission, transfer to other distant units, or less specialized unit admission (Robert et al, 2020). As a result, sacrificing the most vulnerable patients has become part of normalcy even if it is against doctors’ moral principles. With all of these factors...