Ethics

Breaching Confidentiality to Protect Others



Contents

Introduction1

Discussion2

Ethical Aspects2

Utilitarian Approach2

Effect on the Case3

Deontological Approach4

Effect on the Case4

Critical Evaluation4

Benefits of Disclosure or Harms of Enclosure5

Benefits of Enclosure or Harms of Disclosure5

Legal Aspects6

Genetic Information6

Re C (HIV Testing Case)7

Confidentiality8

Respect for Autonomy9

Legal and Ethical10

Conclusion10

References13

Breaching Confidentiality to Protect Others

Introduction

In this case, there is a person named Bob. He is HIV positive, and his treatment is conducting by Dr. Gomez. She, as a doctor, comply with his duty and knowing that this is the sexually transmitted disease asked him to inform his sexual partners about his disease so that they do not get any harm from this disease and they can get themselves check, as well.

On the other hand, Bob is already in a relation with Sue for the last 19 months. They are expecting a baby in 2 months. This is not the only relationship bob was into. Before Sue, Bob has been in a relationship with many other girls. Being socially responsible, Dr. Gomez was insisting Bob to tell everyone he was in relation with, so that this HIV could be stop from spreading and proper cure could be given to the ones who are affected.

Moreover, after some visits and conversation with the Bob, Dr. Gomez gets a clear picture that Bob has not told anyone about his disease, not even Sue. Although, it was Sue's right to get to know about this, but Dr. Gomez was aware of the arrival of the baby and she was worried about the baby, as well. She tried to convince Bob that he should bring Sue for the check up to know whether if she is affected or not and whether if the baby is safe. If some negative results arise, they might be get cured at the instant. However, if he did not take appropriate action right now, they will have to face some serious problem later.

Bob have refused to tell this to Sue, and he further restricted Dr Gomez that if she tells her about his disease, then he will stop his treatment. This situation is complex for the doctor as she wants to cure the ones who are effected by or whom Bob is affected to get treated of their disease, but for this cost which she will have to bare is her direct patient will not treat himself.

This she obviously does not want. In this paper, we are going to discuss the alternative situations and their ethical basis from the perspective of Bob, Sue and Dr. Gomez and will discuss the consequences of each alternative (Harbour, 1998).

Discussion

Ethical Aspects

Ethical perspectives aims to simulate the decision making power and the reflect in depth the ethical evaluation process in all areas of human endeavor. It forces us to think logically and symmetrically, encourage an individual to consider every alternative in the context, give points on the basis of preferences and use the most ethical and the less damaging option (Harbour, 1998). We are going to evaluate the different types of the ethical perspectives ...