Book contents
- Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Section 1 The Context of Healthcare Ethics Committee Work
- Section 2 Consultation
- Section 3 Policy Development and Organizational Issues
- Chapter 24 Conscientious Objection
- Chapter 25 Ethics Committees and Distributive Justice
- Chapter 26 Developing and Implementing Effective Ethics Policy
- Chapter 27 Ethics In and For the Organization
- Chapter 28 The Healthcare Ethics Committee as Educator
- Chapter 29 Understanding Ethics Pedagogy
- Chapter 30 Quality Assessment of Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Index
- References
Chapter 25 - Ethics Committees and Distributive Justice
from Section 3 - Policy Development and Organizational Issues
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2022
- Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Section 1 The Context of Healthcare Ethics Committee Work
- Section 2 Consultation
- Section 3 Policy Development and Organizational Issues
- Chapter 24 Conscientious Objection
- Chapter 25 Ethics Committees and Distributive Justice
- Chapter 26 Developing and Implementing Effective Ethics Policy
- Chapter 27 Ethics In and For the Organization
- Chapter 28 The Healthcare Ethics Committee as Educator
- Chapter 29 Understanding Ethics Pedagogy
- Chapter 30 Quality Assessment of Healthcare Ethics Committees
- Index
- References
Summary
This case raises a number of complex ethical questions for the HEC. When patients are unable to comply with best medical advice because they simply cannot afford the treatments prescribed, what should physicians do? To what extent are health professionals responsible for knowing about their patients’ social and economic circumstances before prescribing a treatment plan? Does the patient have a responsibility to share such information? Is a hospital, which may be inundated with requests for financial assistance from the community it serves, obligated to help care for uninsured and underserved individuals? In the case of Mr. Nguyen, although the cost of providing needed wound dressing may seem minimal, what if many surgical patients served by the hospital need this kind of help? Are we, as a society, responsible for helping Mr. Nguyen and other patients who are uninsured and underserved to obtain needed health care?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees , pp. 219 - 227Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022