Rogelio, Ma. GracielaSalcedo, Von Edward Roque, Marianne Saldana, Emanuel Ruanto, Ma. TheresaSales,...

CASE 3A Case of Texting N Back

Rogelio, Ma. Graciela Salcedo, Von Edward

Roque, Marianne Saldana, Emanuel

Ruanto, Ma. Theresa Sales, Ma. Stephanie

Sabalvaro, Dyan Kristel Salonga, Cryscel Anne

Salac, Carmina Nina San Diego, Phoebe

Salazar, Janelle San Pedro, Regina

Salazar, Riccel Sanez, John Ericson

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Objectives:

To present the case To enumerate the ethical issues /

problems of the case To enumerate the ethical principles

violated To enumerate the ethical principles

upheld To give recommendations regarding the

case

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Objectives:





case

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CASE 3 PK, a celebrity singer was driving at fast speed

at EDSA when he hit a 10 wheeler truck with no tail lights. His car turned turtle several times. He was brought to the hospital emergency room where an x-ray examination revealed multiple rib fractures and a major fracture in the thigh.

He was referred to Radiology for a multiple slice chest CT to rule out fat embolism. You were the radiology resident assigned in the Section who assisted the procedure.

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CASE 3

Your friends in the hospital texted and called you to ask: “What happened to dear PK, he is our idol?” Why was a CT done? What was the result of the procedures?”

Since the people who texted you were your friends, co-residents and co-healthcare workers in the hospital, you texted back what happened to PK.

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Objectives:





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“What happened to dear PK, he is our idol? Why was a CT done? What was

the result of the procedures?”

“Since the people who texted you were your friends, co-residents and co-healthcare workers in the hospital, you texted back what happened to PK.”

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Medical professionals did not preserve the principle of confidentiality. This was exemplified when:Other medical professionals (co-residents and co-

healthcare) who are not part of the attending medical team inquired regarding the status and well-being of a private patient.

The attending radiologist disclosed private information by texting back.

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Physicians have a prima facie obligation to preserve confidentiality, but such prima facie duties can be overridden for weighty reasons and not just by mere curiosity.

When confidentiality is breached, no matter what the weight of the argument, physicians are blameworthy…

Reference: Textbook of Healthcare Ethics 2nd ed. 9

Breaching a confidence and violating a trust are not now, nor can they ever be, “good” things. But they can, on the grounds of harm and benefit to

others, be a better, and often far better, alternative than passively allowing great harm to occur.

Reference: Textbook of Healthcare Ethics 2nd ed. 10

Medical profession holds confidentiality of the patient-physician relationship is recognized in the current Code of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association: In most states, either by statute or case law,

disclosure of medical information is prohibited without consent of the patient.

One state court, after observing that the privacy right of patients warrants constitutional protection, ruled that patients must be able to secure medical services without fear of betrayal and unwarranted embarrassing and detrimental disclosure of private information.

The same court added that the obligation of medical confidentiality relative to patient records and information applies not only to physicians but to hospitals as well.

Reference: Smith and Berlin, Malpractice Issues in Radiology; AJR 2001; 176:599-602

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Radiologists should take reasonable care to keep status confidential, with access provided only to those health care professionals involved in the patient's care.

Reasonable care requires,

at a minimum, adherence to all applicable laws and institutional guidelines, as well as observance of commonsense precautions such as limiting medical record access in potentially sensitive cases.

Reference: Smith and Berlin, Malpractice Issues in Radiology; AJR 2001; 176:599-602

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The nature of confidentiality obligation is to ensure that the information is seen only by those who need to see it in the patient’s interest.

If others wish to have access to this information for other purposes, for instance for research, they may access and use it with patient’s consent, or at least receive it only in an anonymous form.

Reference: R E Ashcroft, MA, PhD & P R Goddard, MD, FRCR; Ethical Issues in Teleradiology; The British Journal of Radiology, 73 (2000), 578-582. 13

As physicians, radiologists have both a legal and an ethical responsibility to respect patient confidentiality.

The radiologist’s relationship with a patient ranges from interpreting a radiograph, in which case there is usually no direct contact, to performing a diagnostic or interventional study, where one does have some degree of direct contact with the patient. The patient’s right to confidentiality is the same, no matter what the depth of the doctor-patient relationship.

Unauthorized disclosure to third parties and discussion of a patient’s disease in public areas of the hospital are breaches of confidentiality against which all physicians must constantly be on guard.

Reference: Douglas L. Brown, MD. Patient Confidentiality in Radiology. Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115. 14

Section 6.

The physician should hold as sacred and highly confidential whatever may be discovered or learned pertinent to the patient even after death, except when required in the promotion of justice, safety and public health.

Reference: CODE OF ETHICS OF THE PHILIPPINE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION 15

Objectives:





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CONFIDENTIALITY

Shows a respect for an individual's autonomy and their right to control the information relating to their own health. In keeping information about the patient’s

secret the doctor is acting beneficently. Disclosing information without the patient's

consent can damage the patient.

Reference: Healthcare Ethics. http://www.ascensionhealth.org/ethics/public/key_principles/informed_consent.asp 17

CONFIDENTIALITY Confidentiality is not an ethical principle

in itself. It can be characterized as a duty by some health professionals.

It involves a respect for autonomy and also beneficence towards the patient and a desire to act non-maleficently.

Breaking confidentiality to protect the safety of a third party is seen as reasonable.


DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

1) Where serious harm may occur to a third party, whether or not a criminal offence, e.g. threat of serious harm to a named person.

2) Where a doctor believes a patient to be the victim of abuse and the patient is unable to give or withhold consent to disclose.



3) Where, without disclosure a doctor would not be acting in the overall best interests of a child or young person who is his/her patient and incapable of consenting to disclosure.

4) When, without disclosure the task of preventing or detecting a serious crime by the police would be prejudiced or delayed.

5) When, without disclosure the task of prosecuting a serious crime would be prejudiced or delayed (e.g. a patient tells you that he killed someone several years ago).



6) Where a doctor has a patient who is a health professional and has concerns over that person’s fitness to practice and posing a serious danger to patients in his or her care.

7) Where a doctor has concerns over a patient’s fitness to drive.


CONFIDENTIALITYFor instance if a doctor were to reveal

privileged information about a celebrity patient to the newspapers then this would be the very reverse of beneficent i.e. maleficent.

Maintaining confidentiality can therefore also be seen as non-maleficent.


BENEFICENCE “First principle" of morality, the dictum

"do good and avoid evil“ Is a "middle principle" insofar as it is

partially dependent for its content on how one defines the concepts of the good and goodness. As a middle principle, beneficence is not a

specific moral rule and cannot by itself tell us what concrete actions constitute doing good and avoiding evil.


BENEFICENCE

Principle of beneficence in the Catholic tradition are:

1) Never deliberately kill innocent human life (which, in the medical context, must be distinguished from foregoing disproportionate means).

2) Never deliberately (directly intend) harm.

3) Seek the patient’s good.

4) Act out of charity and justice.


BENEFICENCE5) Respect the patient’s religious beliefs and value

system in accord with the principle of religious freedom.

6) Always seek the higher good, that is, never neglect one good except to pursue a proportionately greater or more important good.

7) Never knowingly commit or approve an objectively evil action.

8) Do not treat others paternalistically but help them to pursue their goals.

9) Use wisdom and prudence in all things, that is, appreciate the complexity of life and make sound judgments for the good of oneself, others, and the common good.


NON-MALEFICENCE Primum non nocere, commonly translated

as "first, do no harm," is often considered to be a corollary to the principle of beneficence.

In this respect, it shares the same characteristics of beneficence considered as a middle principle.

It is sometimes interpreted to imply that if one cannot do good without also causing harm, then one should not act at all.


Objectives:





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INFORMED CONSENT It is the right and responsibility of every

competent individual to advance his or her own welfare.

This right and responsibility is exercised by freely and voluntarily consenting or refusing consent to recommended medical procedures, based on a sufficient knowledge of the benefits, burdens, and risks involved.


INFORMED CONSENT

The ability to give informed consent depends on:

1) Adequate disclosure of information

2) Patient freedom of choice

3) Patient comprehension of information

4) Patient capacity for decision-making


INFORMED CONSENT

By meeting these four requirements, three necessary conditions are satisfied:

1) That the individual’s decision is voluntary

2) That this decision is made with an appropriate understanding of the circumstances

3) That the patient’s choice is deliberate insofar as the patient has carefully considered all of the expected benefits, burdens, risks and reasonable alternatives.


INFORMED CONSENT

Legally, adequate disclosure includes information concerning the following:

1) Diagnosis

2) Nature and purpose of treatment

3) Risks of treatment

4) Treatment alternatives


INFORMED CONSENT Depending on the circumstances,

consent may take on two other forms.

1. In cases where individuals are brought to the hospital in an unconscious state or with no decision-making capacity, consent can be presumed, provided that the procedures performed are necessary and cannot be postponed until the person has regained consciousness or decision-making capacity.


INFORMED CONSENT

2. It also may happen that a surgeon sees the critical need of more extensive surgery in the course of an operation. In these circumstances, there may be no time to contact the spouse, parents or surrogate of the unconscious patient.


INFORMED CONSENT

VICARIOUS CONSENTFor incompetent or incapacitated

individuals, this right and duty of the patient to give consent is to be exercised on his or her behalf by a surrogate.

It is regulated by individual state and federal laws, following various standards of surrogate decision-making, including substituted judgment and best interests.


Objectives:




upheld To give recommendations regarding

the case

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Breach of the principles of

medical ethics would eventually

result to bad doctor-patient

relationship and possible

legal sanctions.

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BIOETHICS COMMITTEE:

♣ Reprimand and give penalty to the resident for disclosing confidential information.

♣ Assess the damage: gather all the co-residents and healthcare workers who were texted, and determine the extent of news leakage.

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♣ Make sure that the leaked information is truthful and accurate, with correct interpretation of the imaging results.

♣ The resident should tell the patient the truth regarding the leaked information, and apologize for the breached confidentiality.


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♣ If the extent of leakage has reached the general public, try to work with the patient to arrange a press conference on how he wants the issue to be dealt with. Remember to always protect the right and dignity of the patient.


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♣ If the patient wants to sue or take legal actions, try to work out first the best possible arrangements that would still maintain the reputation of the hospital. Due compensation could be given.


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Thank You

Rogelio, Ma. GracielaSalcedo, Von Edward Roque, Marianne Saldana, Emanuel Ruanto, Ma. TheresaSales,...

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