Legal and Ethical Issues: Case Study - Essay Example

Legal and Ethical Issues: Case Study 1 Does Jerry’s medical training qualify him to issue this refill order? Why or why not? Jerry McCall is an office assistant under the aegis of Dr. Williams. He is not trained or qualified enough to prescribe medicines on his own. He must seek the prior approval of Dr. Williams before he lets anyone to use a particular medicine, and in this case Valium. His medical training is such that he must not be in a position to prescribe a medicine to anyone. Hence he does not stand qualified to tackle this problem which has come about in the absence of Dr Williams. It might be possible that Dr. Williams has disallowed or minimized the dosage of Valium to this specific patient, and if Jerry McCall allows the usage of Valium to him, nearly everyone will be affected by the same. Therefore it would be better for Jerry McCall to keep away from giving the patient any possible supply of Valium as it is a case of transgression on his part. 2 Would it make a difference if the medication requested were for control of high blood pressure that the patient critically needs on a daily basis? Why or why not? It would not be any different if the medication requested is for the control of high blood pressure. The case remains the same more or less. This is because then again it is one form of medication that is required to be given by Jerry McCall or any other office assistant at Dr. Williams’ office (Hobkirk, 2011). Jerry McCall would in such a situation ask for advice from Dr. Williams because Dr. Williams would be the best person to seek suggestions from. The patient who is undergoing high blood pressure would then have to ask for assistance from Dr. Williams and would not rely on Jerry McCall’s help and assistance. 3 If Jerry calls in the refill and the patient has an adverse reaction while flying, is Jerry protected from a lawsuit under the doctrine of respondent superior? Jerry McCall will not be protected from a lawsuit under the doctrine of respondent superior in case a patient has an adverse reaction whilst having a flight. Jerry McCall would have to face charges because he is the one who administered medication to the patient. This would also call for charges against Dr. Williams because it is his office that eventually gave the medication to the patient. Even though the medication was ill-advised and uncalled for, the role of Jerry McCall is all the more important (Weber, 2000). This is because he must not provide medication to individuals (patients) as he is unqualified for the post. Since he is an office assistant, he should only stick to what he has been hired for. The lawsuit would therefore be imposed on Jerry McCall and Dr. Williams for their negligence and in putting up with a situation that they could have avoided to begin with. 4 What is your advice to Jerry? My advice to Jerry McCall would be to make sure that he performs his job to the best of his abilities and not to interfere within the work domains of Dr. Williams. Through this mannerism, he will not only be able to maintain his own work ethics, but also contribute in a positive way towards the office of Dr. Williams. Furthermore, he needs to make sure that his work settings are such that he is not given any responsibility for tasks that are outside his domains. This will be the basis of achieving immense success as far as his respective work undertakings are concerned. He must not give any medications and prescriptions to anyone, no matter how close an individual is to Dr. Williams. There needs to be a fine line drawn between what is acceptable and what is simply not doable on his part. If he makes sure that his work settings are positively inclined, he will be able to muster enough confidence to say ‘no’ to people who demand more than his job focus. 5 Identify major legal and ethical issues that may affect Jerry’s decision. Some of the major legal and ethical issues that stand in the way of Jerry McCall include lawsuits that could be given out in his name by the law authorities. This could also mean trouble of sorts for not only Jerry McCall but also Dr. Williams because it is Dr. Williams’ clinic at the end of the day from where Jerry McCall is handling tasks. From an ethical perspective, he is perhaps crossing the line a bit too much (Towl, 2005). He must not allow any patient to take him for granted. He is bound to do what is right and if he feels confused about a sudden situation that arises out of nowhere, he must seek the advice of Dr. Williams at all times. These legal and ethical issues might crop up once Jerry McCall has taken the call to help the patients who are in need. This is significant to comprehend since Jerry McCall has a specific duty and he must make sure that he fulfills his responsibility more than anything else. He must not waste his energies towards doing things which are unbecoming of his role, which essentially means that he ends up prescribing medicines and providing medication to the people in an ill-advised fashion. 6 Problem-solving methods to assist in making an ethical decision? Some of the more important problem-solving methods that assist in making an ethical decision have to be encountered by Jerry McCall under these situations. This is because ethical decision making is indeed a hard thing to do, and requires persistence to come about. It can only materialize with a level headed individual at the other end who can understand the repercussions of an ethical decision (Dewett, 2006). There is a dire need to find out where one is going wrong and how corrective measures can be deployed to best suit the needs of all concerned. Hence problem solving methods are much appreciated under such settings because ethical decision making is a desired proposition that will continue to be liked by people who might face legal and ethical issues from time to time. References Dewett, T. (2006). Evaluating ethical decision-making models: a review and application. Society and Business Review 1(3) Hobkirk, M. (2011). Values in managerialism and leadership. The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services 7(2) Towl, G. (2005). Restoring Responsibility, Ethics in Government, Business and Healthcare. The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services 1(1) Weber, L. (2000). Health care management ethics Reflections on quality. Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations 2 Read More