CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

CHAPTER 3: MEDICAL LAW, ETHICS, AND MORAL ISSUES OF HEALTH CARE 71
An example of this difference of opinion is the issue of the right to life. Questions
regarding this issue involve more than the rights of one person. Examples
of some of these legal and ethical questions are as follows:
• Do all of our citizens have the right to life and the pursuit of
happiness?
• What are the rights of the unborn and of the newborn?
• Should the tissue of an aborted fetus be used to provide medical treatment
for persons suffering illnesses that might be aided by transplantation
of tissue from a fetus?
• Is euthanasia ever legally justified, such as in assisted suicides as performed
by Dr. Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist?
• Should a person have the right to refuse water and food in order to die
if a disease or condition is terminal, and should medical intervention be
used to force the person to eat and drink?
• Does a person on public assistance (Medicare or Medicaid) deserve to
have continuous treatment for an incurable condition , as opposed to one
who has insurance that has a limit on the amount of treatment that may
be received?
• Does a person of a lower socioeconomic class without financial
resources deserve the same treatment as a person of a higher status?
Standards of Confidentiality
Most medical workers, particularly those with
direct patient contact, will be faced with at least
some of these questions as well as others of their
own in the course of their duties. Many medical
facilities have ethics committees that include clergy,
legal personnel, and interested citizens to develop
standards to use in the workplace. Some of these
committees may even be state-wide or national in
scope. Most assuredly, we will hear about more of
these issues in the next few decades, as technology
evolves and personal information becomes more
widely available. Health care workers should be
aware that a record of accessing a patient’s or
an employee’s records by computer leaves a trail
that may be followed. Disciplinary action for
unwarranted intrusion may follow an attempt to
gain access to private records, and in many cases
workers have been surprised by a visit from computer
services personnel, asking for verification
of the need for various persons to have accessed
certain files. Laws are strict as to who can access a
patient’s records and the conditions under which
this is done (Figure 3-2).
FIGURE 3-2 A patient’s right to privacy must be maintained when
a patient’s medical records are accessed.
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