Healthcare Profession Medical Professionals

Healthcare Profession Medical Professionals essay assignment

Healthcare Profession Medical Professionals essay assignment

In the healthcare profession, it can be a common occurrence to find yourself in a situation where the line of right and wrong can be blurry. In this case study, the line falls with Lorraine when she has decided to give her family member, Teresa, medicine that she has not been prescribed by her medical provider. Teresa has speculations that she has contracted strep throat again, and can’t afford to go to the doctor as she does not have health insurance and is still paying off her last visit to her provider. Is what Lorraine did for Teresa ethically or legally right? And does Teresa have any options for health insurance that won’t break her bank?

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Lorraine, as a health care professional, knows that it is ethically wrong to give medicine to someone who has not received a prescription, but with family, it can be a difficult choice. Giving any individual medication that has not been prescribed to them is not only unethical but it is also illegal. As said in a post on VeryWellMind, “If you take a pill that was prescribed to someone else or give that pill to another person, it is against the law. It’s also extremely dangerous.” No tests were done to confirm Teresa’s speculation of her possible strep throat. Without proper examinations, she won’t know what medication to take and could potentially take medicine that may do nothing or possibly make things much worse. Lorraine should have refused to give her the medication and offered other legal routes to obtain it.

There are millions of Americans in the same position as Teresa. PBS.org stated, “About 44 million people in this country have no health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance.” There are systems in place to help individuals in these situations, like ‘Blue Cross Blue Shield’ or ‘Obama Care’. These options offer health insurance at low to no cost based on the individual’s financial situation. Medicine may never be entirely free across the board but it is not impossible to find cheaper affordable options. Having family members in health care professions doesn’t mean they get a pass to free medication, it does however mean that they have a reference to connect with when something is possibly wrong. That family member does not have the legal right to hand you medicine without paperwork and examinations. They do, however, have the right to guide you down the right path for the highest possible health that you can achieve in an ethically and legally correct manner.

Lorraine did not have the legal right to accept giving medication to Teresa in this case study. Lorraine should have either guided Teresa to a health care provider that could help or at the bare minimum advised one of her higher-ups for further steps. Teresa does deserve the highest possible care, but like all other individuals in similar situations, there is an ethically and legally correct way to go about doing it.

References

Buddy T, (July 2, 2021) The Laws surrounding using drugs without a prescription, VeryWellMind, Retrieved From
Using Medicine Without a Prescription Is Illegal (verywellmind.com)

PBS, (2019) Who’s at Risk?, PBS.org, Retrieved from
PBS- Healthcare Crisis: The Uninsured

I believe that Lorraine should not provide the unsubscribed medication. First Lorraine does not know Teresa’s whole medical history. Also, we do not know with the medication will do more harm than good because of not knowing all of the facts. If Teresa has a bad reaction to the antibiotics Lorraine is not only putting Teresa’s life in danger, but she is putting her career on the line, and making the office she works in liable. Laws and rules are put in place for a reason, they were made to protect the patient and the healthcare provider. Allen Merry states,” From religious or deontological viewpoints, punishment may be seen as justified in its own right; but a consequentialist justification for punishing doctors who, through their medical errors, cause harm to patients, holds that this deters other doctors from making the same mistakes in the future.” (Merry). I totally understand why Lorraine would want to help out her family member, but you also have to consider why your family member would ask you to put your job on the line like that. Family is messy as it is but if someone is asking you to break the rules/the law do you really think that they won’t throw you under the bus when things get bad?

It is clear in this video that Lorraine knows what the right thing to do. Lorraine had the right idea when she asks Teresa if she had seen a doctor for her throat problem, when Teresa responds no, Lorraine instantly wants to book her an appointment, but she let Teresa convince her otherwise. Romans 4:17 states, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Lorraine knows that she is doing the wrong thing, and is clearly conflicted, but proceeds to do the wrong thing. Lorraine is not only putting Teresa’s life in danger. Without another checkup and testing Teresa could be contagious which puts others life in danger. Also, antibiotics did not work the first time so what makes her think that they will work this time, which puts Lorraine on the hook again because Teresa will most likely be back for more favors. If Lorraine would have just stood her ground, not allowing Teresa to bend her morels, all the worst case scenario would not be at play.

 

Merry, A. F. (2009, July 1). How does the law recognize and deal with medical errors? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711199/

 

Crossway Bibles. (2016). Esv: Study bible: English standard version.

Romans 4:17