Dr. Yates
Biomedical Ethics
6/3/2015
Bioethics First Take Home Exam
Section A.
2. Higgs concept of truthfulness states that physicians have an obligation to be truthful to patients. There are no excusable reasons to justify being dishonest to a patient. He also states that not telling the patient the truth is just as wrong as blatantly lying to them. One excuse that a physician may use to try to justify being dishonest to a patient is that the patient will not comprehend what the physician is telling them because it is too technical and complex. An example of such a situation may be a patient being diagnosed with a lymphoma. The physician may fear that the patient will not understand complicated terms like lymphocytes …show more content…
Childress and Siegler’s model of negotiation is a patient-physician relationship model which respects the autonomy of both the patient, and the physician. Both parties must disclose their values, and the other must agree to adhere to them. The relationship must be voluntary, meaning that either party cannot be forced into the relationship. The negotiation patient-physician model is a process that occurs over time. The relationship may change over the course of time. In a negotiation patient-physician relationship autonomy is seen as both a constraint and an ideal. It is ideal because we always strive for free will to make decisions. It is a constraint because neither party has complete autonomy because they must respect the autonomy of the other party. Autonomy can have big implications on a relationship. A patient may choose to allow the doctors to make the decisions for the patient if the doctor feels comfortable doing so. If the doctor does not feel comfortable making the decisions, then that affects their autonomy and may refuse to do so. In this case autonomy is considered a constraint and ideal because they are exercising their free will to allow the doctor to make medical decisions for them, but also may conflict with the other party’s autonomy and be seen as a