Medical Law and Ethics - Essay Example

The doctors have a responsibility to care for the lives and should not allow anyone to lose his or her life even the unborn child (House of Commons 2007). Abortion Act of 1967 prohibits abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger and nothing could be done to save the child.

Abortion is risky to the mother and can result in other complications. It may cause cervix complications, bleeding and even bareness (Keown John 2002) Since her husband is opposed to abortion and there is no medical reason for abortion then Dr. Morgan should not recommend abortion.

Question B
The doctor should use the right procedure for acquiring an organ for transplant (McLean Sheila 2009) in accordance with HT Act.  The HT Act determines the procedure for obtaining consent either from the deceased or from the deceased or from the relatives of the deceased (FarrellAnne-Maree, 2011). In case the deceased left no consent the doctors should seek consent from the qualifying person (Madsen Klein 2011).  The immediate person who was staying with the deceased is the most qualifying person from whom doctors should seek consent (Jackson Emily 2013). Therefore, since Nellie had not left any consent, Dr. Black had a duty to obtain consent from her family to use Nellie’s organs for transplant. However, since her husband was the most qualified and was against the doctor’s idea of using her organs, Dr. Black could not use them despite the consent of Nellie’s parents.

Part C

The doctor should inform the patients of the risks associated with each operation in order to help them make an informed decision (Gleeson Michael 2008).  The patients have to weigh between the problems they are going through and the risk they will get exposed to as a result of medical operations (Crellin J. K 2005). Patients should request information just to be sure of what they are likely to go through during or after the operation (McConachie Ian 2009). Doctors should ensure their patients are not caught by surprise in case of unexpected consequences (Garden James, 2012) for this will help patients to learn to trust their doctors.  In this case, Dr. Roberts failed to mention the stiffness of the neck and it occurred the doctor is liable to his client for not giving inadequate information although she had asked the question about her voice and was assured there would be no problem.

Part C

Helping someone to end his or her life deliberately is called euthanasia (Dev Harveer 2013). It may be active or inactive. Also, it may be voluntary, involuntary, or non-voluntary (Youngner Stuart 2012). According to Atkinson Rowland (2014), and Dev Harveer (2013), it is illegal for any person to assist another person end his or her life in the UK for whatever reason. Doctors have a duty to protect lives and should not end someone’s life at any cost. Therefore, Dr. Jones should not assist his patient to end her life irrespective of whether she has hope for survival or not. If he does that it is possible that patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses may lose trust in their doctors and perceive doctors as threats to life instead of treating them as people who can save them.

Part DAlthough Sophia’s case is related to that of Katie, in this case Sophia has no intention of ending her life, but the decision is being made by her relatives and her doctor.  The case is of non-voluntary euthanasia. The doctor should implement the will of the patient by ensuring her life is taking care of at all cost (Smith, Stephen, 2012). It is against the law for the doctor to withdraw life support machine on the patient and yet he understands the consequence of his action will result to death of the patient (Hubrecht, Robert C, 2012) . The suggestion to end the patient’s life by the family members is an immoral act because relatives should be the frontline to support the treatment of their patient (Anderson Owen, 2007). Even though the family members may feel burdened to pay huge hospital bills for Sophia and believe they should do away with her just to save the family resources since there is no hope of her living a normal life in the future, they should find an alternative to save her life in accordance to her will.