ETHICS CASE STUDY

PAM SIMMONS

UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX

HCS/335 HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

STEVE LINERODE

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

This is an ethic case study that is very important for everyone to know and to understand. People face different situations, every day in their lives. Whether it being a doctor, lawyer, or whatever, everyone goes through tough times. Ever since, we can remember, health care has been the main focus for an individual having anything that is wrong with them, such as an illness or a disease, that isn’t preventable. People like this go through a rough time. They face a lot things, especially expensive medical bills, for any treatment. The worse thing about this is that the government is making it really hard for people, like this, to obtain any kind of medical insurance, which is very tough, because people, that can’t get any kind of insurance, doesn’t have a chance for any treatment, which everyone needs. In the following case study, I will explain the different situations that people face, every day and in this case, I will determine what a doctor, any medical personnel, or even a patient should do in any kind of health care situation. The following case is about a man named Jerry McCall, which is a doctor’s assistant. He has training as an LPN and a medical assistant. He has an issue and a decision to make. He is the only one in the office at the time and a man calls and wants a refill on some Valium, because he is leaving really quickly to go somewhere and he needs it. Well, since Jerry isn’t a doctor, he, still, has the training. This means, that with his training, he can work under the orders of the doctor and, sometimes, he does clerical work and this would allow him to be able to call in prescriptions for the doctor or, even write a prescription for the patient, which is pretty good (LPN degree, 2009). There is a big difference if the request was for blood pressure, because this is needed, every day, whereas Valium is, only, need, when they need to be more comfortable. With this in mind, and that the doctor is a close friend, then Jerry would have to let the doctor know, before he was to write out a prescription, because this kind of medicine is very important and with blood pressure, it can help an individual from having a heart attack, which isn’t good. If Jerry were to call in the refill and the patient had an adverse reaction, then more than likely, Jerry would be covered under something called Doctrine of Respondent Superior. This means that the responsibility of the doctor on the actions that are done by the employees, when they are doing actions, during work hours. So if the patient were to have an adverse reaction to the medicine, while flying, then Jerry would not be responsible and he would be protected, however if Jerry were to call in the prescription, when he wasn’t at work, then he wouldn’t be protected, which isn’t good ( Legal Expections, 2008). If I was to give Jerry any advice on what to do in this situation, I would ask him if he knew about this patient and his history at this office and I would, more than likely, let him know that if he doesn’t know this patient and his history, then he should let the doctor know, prior, because any medication can’t be mistreated and if Jerry didn’t know this patient, then he needs to look at his records and find out when was the last time, this patient was seen and how long ago this prescription was taken by this patient. Jerry should page the doctor, if he doens’t know the patient, and let the doctor know what the patient wants and that he doesn’t have much time, because of his flight. After that, then the doctor should be able to let Jerry know if he can do this or not. I think that this a huge, difficult decision for Jerry to make, because for one thing, he is the only one in the office and the other thing is that the patient needs the medication, really quick like. What I would recommend to Jerry is to make sure that he knows this patient and that this medication is given to the patient for that main reason and if he isn’t aware of this patient, then he should contact the doctor, before the patient leaves on his flight. It is always the best to contact the doctor if you are unsure about any patient, because you want to make sure that you are doing the right thing and that the medication is not being mistreated in any way.

References (2007) Doctrine Respondent Superior. Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from www.legalexpectations.com (2009) Functions of an LPN. Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from www.lpndegree.org DDoctrine Respondent Superior