Ethical, Legal and Cultural Issues in Assessment

Ethical, Legal and Cultural Issues in Assessment

Discussion #1

The Case

I have chosen for my first discussion Case Study # 5. It is about Chase Knotting a patient of Dr David Miller. Dr David passed confidential patient-doctor information to a third person who was father of Chase's bride-to-be. When he told Dr Leventhal who was acting on behalf of Chase's fiancée's father about Chase's medical condition and he furthermore advised them against letting Chase marry the girl.

Ethical Implications

According to the established code of ethics, The Respect for People's Rights code has been violated by Dr Miller which implies that the discussion between the patient and the doctor should not be revealed, unless required by the law in some legal matter. The code also requires the practitioner to refrain from discussing his or her patient's mental and physical heath in the private circles.

American Psychological Association Ethical Principles

Dr Miller also violated the ethical principle of “Fidelity and Responsibility” of American Psychological Association which require the Psychologists to build and maintain relationship of trust with their patients and that they should be respect and fulfill their professional responsibilities toward the patient, society and the community in which these practitioners work. He also violated the principle of “Respect for People's Rights and Dignity” which requires the psychologist to “respect” the right of their patients to “privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.”

Legal Implications

According to the State Laws, the breach of patient-doctor confidentiality can range from monetary penalties to lose of practice licensing. According to the Pennsylvania State Laws it has an express physician-patient privilege limited to civil matter. Dr. Miller also violated these provisions outlined in the legal instruments of both federal and state constitutions by breaching the fundamental principle of confidentiality. Consequently the doctor could potentially face lawsuits and legal actions which may results in cancellation of his practitioner's license (Turner et al., 2001).

Discussion #2

The Case

I have chosen Case Study # 2 for my second discussion. The case study is about Roberta Jacobs who is 40 years old lady working in a company. The Roberta is dealing with hearing impaired conditions since long time. The issue with Roberta, that she is getting promoted in her company and in order to ensure that she will be able to move up to the next rung in the corporate leader, she needs to take the series of psychological assessments. Roberta has been gone ...