Provider- Patient Relationship (CASE) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Provider- Patient Relationship (CASE) - Essay Example How do health care professionals find the balance to make decisions that honor, both, patient confidentiality and other ethical obligations like reporting a potential crime. It is, often, not an easy decision to make. Imagine yourself as an E.R. physician and a patient arrives who has, according to his companions, ingested a large quantity of illegal drugs. He does not wish to be treated, however, his companions feel that he is mentally impaired by his drug use and should be treated regardless. It is absolutely true that while under the influence of intoxicants one may not be capable of the best possible judgment, however, that may not be true in every case. If one is capable of understanding the consequences of his or her decision regarding receiving treatment and the potential outcomes of refusing it then it would be unethical to disregard their personal choice not to receive medical care. In the case provided the patient was deemed capable of understanding the situation and was allowed to leave without receiving treatment. Ethically, however, if the patient had not been successful in being evaluated as capable of making his own decisions then treatment would and should be administered despite their objections, or at least until they achieve a more competent mental state; for example the effect of the drugs wears off. In the second scenario we are presented with a woman that has admitted to be unable to retrieve a condom filled with an illegal narcotic substance from her vagina. In this case the ethical decision required by the healthcare professional is not so easy. There is the health of the patient, but the patient’s potential medical condition was caused in the process of committing a crime. In this case the decision that seems to create amiable solution results from treating the patient, without contacting law enforcement, and then if drugs were