HSA5200CBE Section 01CBE Healthcare Policy, Ethics, and Laws (11 Weeks) - CBE - 2021 Fall Quarter Deliverable 4 - Case Analysis Involving Medical Ethics Using IRAC Method Deliverable 4 - Case Analysis Involving Medical Ethics Using IRAC Method

Legal Concept in Healthcare

Legal Concepts in Healthcare

Jennifer Franks

Rasmussen College

October 29, 2021 for HSA5200CBE Section 01CBE Healthcare Policy, Ethics, and

Law

Introduction

Legal concepts and ethics are known as laws that govern the healthcare sector, both public and private, and how they are supposed to implement and authorize healthcare strategies (Fife, Caroline E., et al.).Various legal and medical concepts govern healthcare organizations. These legal and ethical dilemmas mainly arise whenever the patient, their family members, and healthcare providers have distinct opinions on what appropriate care the patient needs depending on their progress. Most of the time, health care practitioners are torn between sticking to legal concepts and ethics and respecting the patients' wishes. Doctors are not supposed to violate the patient's trust despite the legal and ethical morals as it is a significant component in treating the patient. In this discussion, we will look at a teenage girl who was brain-dead and under a life support machine. The doctors were confused between fulfilling the parents' wish by giving them custody of their daughter or following medical ethics, which considered the girl dead.

Case on legal concepts in healthcare

The Issue

The biggest issue is what the court and doctors are supposed to do regarding what the parents want is? Doctors from Sarasota hospital who had been taking care of a brain-dead patient Teresa Hamilton wanted to get permission from the court so that they could remove the girl from the life support machine or system. On the other hand, the teenager's parents thought that the doctors' decision was premature. They wanted the court to instruct the hospital to release their girl and put her under the care of her parents, namely Fredrick and Sharon Hamilton. Medical professionals and the hospital president said that three brain scans on the patient indicated no blood flow in her brain, implying that it was already dead. Furthermore, keeping the girl under the life support system was expensive, and the health insurance for the parents had run out (Fife, Caroline E., et al.).

Rule

The judge stated that 'the court's action had nothing to do with the fact that the families lack of medical insurance.' Instead, the court ruling was that taking care of the girl named Teresa was causing stress to healthcare workers handling the typical case. According to the law governing medicine and ethics in public health, the court argued that a person is alive if there is irreversible cessation. Based on how the entire brain functions, even if the respiratory and circulatory systems are under life support (Mong, Donald R). In these cases, the hospital has no right to request permission from the court to disconnect the patient from the life support as they are legally still alive.

Analysis

The analysis was shows the fact that the patient was a minor. And in no position to express their wishes, so the decision was lying in her parents' hands. The hospital management and other professionals in medicine argued that if the hospital continued keeping the girl under the life support system, they would be treating a corpse. Even if the parents wanted to take custody of their child, her condition was irreversible. Taking her out of the life support system and transferring her home would only worsen, unlike when they would have allowed the hospital to make the disconnection (Morata, Lauren).

Conclusion

In conclusion, although we have several legal concepts and ethics that govern the responsibilities and functioning of healthcare organizations, there should be set limits for their application. For patients whose situations are no cure, the Parents and other family members should understand why the hospital is willing to disconnect from the system supporting their lives. Family members and patients who can give their opinions should be allowed to ask questions on the current health condition and any possibilities of the patient getting well to express their wishes.

References

Fife, C. E., Yankowsky, K. W., Ayello, E. A., Capitulo, K. L., Fowler, E., Krasner, D. L., ... & Sibbald, R. G. (2016). Legal issues in the care of brain-dead patient: Key concepts for healthcare providers-a consensus paper from the International Expert Wound Care Advisory Panel©. Advances in skin & wound care, 23(11), 493-507.

Mong, D. R. (2016). Developing the Legal Environment of Healthcare Course. Atl. LJ, 18, 84.

Morata, L. (2018). An evolutionary concept analysis of futility in health care. Journal of advanced nursing, 74(6), 1289-1300.