CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

CHAPTER 3: MEDICAL LAW, ETHICS, AND MORAL ISSUES OF HEALTH CARE
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components of our existence work together inextricably and produce an environment
in which all the citizens can live with a measure of security and well-being.
What is Meant by the Term Ethics?
A dictionary definition of ethics shows it stems from the word custom. The meaning
of the word custom is a set of generally accepted practices or types of behavior
associated with a specific group of people. This meaning has eventually evolved
to that of a meaning more closely associated with “doing the correct or proper
thing.” The use of the term ethics is frequently associated with medical or business
practices. In the medical arena, we view care of the poor and elderly, the newborn
or unborn children, and handicapped persons as an ethical responsibility. Denial
of certain procedures because a patient falls into categories such as age or medical
conditions, along with a myriad of other conditions, would be measured by
standards in the ethical realm. The term morality is associated with actual conduct,
from which the Patient’s Bill of Rights originates. Morality refers to a system
of conduct that is right and wrong, or what is virtuous. The science of morality
relates to the principles of proper professional conduct concerning the rights and
duties of health care professionals, their patients, and their colleagues.
Ethical Delivery of Medical Care
Providing medical care in an ethical manner has many tenets that are necessary
to provide an overall system that works to the patient’s advantage. All patients
desire and deserve to have their treatment delivered in a confidential and professional
manner. As a significant factor in health care, federal laws such as the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have been enacted
to delineate the responsibilities of health care providers and the manner in which
medical information is to be handled. There are three basic components of the
rights of the patient receiving care. These fundamental rights of the patient
regarding personal privacy of self and records are:
1. The patient’s condition or his or her medical data should not be revealed to
anyone other than those who have a valid right to obtain the results.
2. No tests should be performed unless ordered through proper channels by the
physician or his or her designees. Positive tests for certain diseases often have
connotations of wrongdoing by the patient and could bring great embarrassment
to the patient whose results are revealed to others.
3. Results of tests are never given directly to patient without guidance from the
attending physician(s), as patients are often poorly equipped to understand,
interpret, and to handle critical test information.
The Patient’s Bill of Rights is an important component of the duty of the
health care facility to provide adequate care. This document will typically be
posted conspicuously in the hospital in areas where patients check into the
facility or are treated as an outpatient, such as in the emergency areas. This
document is based on the responsibility for ethical and moral treatment of the
patient, regardless of his or her station in life. The Patient’s Bill of Rights is an
institution-wide document and has some application to the medical laboratory,
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