Clinician Ethical Dilemmas

Clinicians are expected to provide medical services to help others. However, there is a debate about whether clinicians should treat friends and family, members also known as non-patients. “Treatment of non-patients is widespread, with some studies reporting nearly 100 percent of physicians engaging in this practice” (Latessa & Ray, 2005, p.42). A case was presented where a physician assistant (PA Brian) was asked to treat his supervising physician (Dr.Yarnell) for different medical conditions while prescribing multiple controlled substances. Legal standards provide vague ethical guidance regarding this issue and leave a lot of blank spaces open for clinician interpretation. In Dr.Yarnell and PA Brian’s case there were numerous ethical dilemmas that can be examined under the four ethical principles of medicine: beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice.
In the case presented for discussion described above, it was imminent that Dr. Yarnell had a justifiable medical history that supported his symptoms. Nonetheless, it can be argued the way PA Brian decided to evaluate and treat Dr. Yarnell was biased or based on personal interests. PA Brian’s medical judgment was compromised. Mutual personal motivations existed between Dr. Yarnell and PA Brian. However, as a clinician PA Brian should have impartially evaluated Dr. Yarnell by properly and examining and documenting his findings or properly redirecting Dr.Yarnell to a different clinician. If the patient (Dr. Yarnell) was never appropriately examined, how can PA Brian as a health care provider substantiate that the medication prescribed was adequate and beneficial for the