PA Medical News about clinician; ethical dilemma

Become a Member Today!
Register

Most Viewed Abstracts

1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians

2. Recommendations on the use of 18F-FDG PET in oncology

3. Use of Antiemetic Agents in Acute Gastroenteritis

4. Gene expression signatures, clinicopathological features, and individualized therapy in breast cancer

5. AHA Guidelines on Cardiac CT for Assessing Coronary Artery Disease

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Clinician confronts an all-too-common ethical dilemma
The Clinical Advisor, 07/17/09

Zipp C et al. – With regard to the office visit, an encounter such as this must be documented and a course of action decided. The clinician in this case consulted the available ethical and legal resources and decided to document a standard Subjective, Objective, Assesment, and Plan note that contained the verbatim confession of the patient. Every medical student learns of the clinician's obligation to maintain patient confidentiality. The irony of this case is that the honesty and trust Mr. P put in his clinician could now be used as evidence against him. Obviously, clinician–patient confidentiality has limits. According to the AMA, certain boundaries exist. As the AMA states, "The obligation to safeguard patient confidences is subject to certain exceptions, which are ethically and legally justified because of overriding social considerations. When patients pose threats of harm to specific third parties or to the public health, physicians may have a duty to breach confidentiality. These threats can take a variety of forms, including intended violent acts as well as irresponsible or malicious actions arising from the patient's medical condition."

<< Previous
Recognizing autism spectrum disorder

Next >>
Tender, rupturing pustule on the chin