How Did Johns Decide To Take Aspirin?

I. Introduction
a. Aaron Skeens
b. Medical Law and Ethics
c. The Case of John F. and the HMO
d. John is a 34 year-old male who has found himself visiting his local clinic quite often due to the finding of blood in his stools. At every visit, John never sees a physician, only a physician’s assistant. Robert, the physician’s assistant, never orders any testing on John, only sends him home with the advice to take an antacid. While the antacid is suggested to control the bleeding, John fails to let Robert know that he has been taking aspirin more often recently due to persistent headaches. John is sent home only to be rushed to the emergency room two days later and is diagnosed with having a bowel hemorrhage.
II. Case Study Considerations
a. Could
More than 100,000 people are hospitalized each year with gastrointestinal bleeds caused by aspirin according to a report in Postgraduate Medicine. (Woolston, 2014) The stomach is protected from its own acids by an enzyme called cyclooxygenase which increases the blood flow to the stomach as wells as increasing the production of mucous. When aspirin is taken, the production of this enzyme is inhibited causing the stomach to be more vulnerable to the acids in the stomach. When regular doses of aspirin are being taken, the stomach does not have time to heal from the damages the acids cause. This can result in internal bleeding, which would be the reason that John was finding blood in his
Antacids are used when the acid levels in the stomach are too high for some reason or in some cases where the stomach’s defense mechanisms are not performing efficiently. The antacid will help by neutralizing some of the acids in the stomach, disabling it from causing damage to the lining of the stomach. In John’s case, he had already caused a good amount of damage to the lining of his stomach by taking aspirin, so much that the antacid was not early enough to help repair injuries that were present. Not only was the antacid too late to help heal John’s stomach, but he continued taking aspirin for the headaches which just continued to make the bleed worse.
c. Physician assistants have become a staple in a medical practice in today’s time. Originally, physician assistants were to help assist the physician with the care of patient’s. Today, their roles have changed quite dramatically. A physician assistant is more than likely who will see when you go into a medical practice and in some cases you will not have an encounter with the physician at all during your visit. In most states, a physician’s assistant can conduct physical exams, diagnose, write prescriptions, order and interpret tests and labs, and treat