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Ethics Case Study-Medical Law & Ethics

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Misty Bagwell Week 2 HCS 335

Ethics Case Study-Medical Law & Ethics

Jerry McCall is Dr. William’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and a LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium, an antidepressant medication, called in right away to his pharmacy, since he is leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. He says that Dr. Williams is a professional friend and always gives him a small supply of Valium when he has to fly. No one except Jerry is in the office at this time. What should he do? First before we get into the matter we need to describe what a medical assistant’s job is and what tasks that they perform. A medical assistant’s roll is to complete the administrative and clinical tasks in the office for physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners to help make their jobs just a little bit easier. The jobs for a medical assistant will vary due to the location of a practice, the specialty of the practice, and size of the practice. A medical assistant’s job is to help a doctor with the administrative part in the office and the clinical duties so that a doctor will be able to see and receive patients a whole lot faster. A medical assistant must have graduated from an accredited program and they also have to pass a national certification exam.
Does Jerry’s medical training qualify him to issue this refill order? Why or why not? Even though Jerry is certified as a medical assistant and has an LPN license, he is still not certified to fill out a prescription without doctor’s orders. A medical assistant can only call in a refill after he or she gets the approval from the doctor that has prescribed the medicine. If the matter is urgent then the medical assistant needs to call the

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