Ethics in the Treatment of Breast Cancer - Essay Example

"Ethics in the Treatment of Breast Cancer" is a great example of a paper on cancer.
Dramatic changes in the medical field have led to the growing awareness of the medical profession leading to the increasing complexity of medical ethics, especially on breast cancer, which has become epidemic claiming many lives of women worldwide. The major reason for these complexities is the improved advancement of technology giving rise to new ethical problems. To cope with these evils, the scale of medical ethics needs to be enlarged so as to provide the latest regulation for the new problems encountered by physicians in the speedily developing science of medicine (TALLEY, MCCORKLE & BAILE, 2012).  If all the persons in the medical field go as per the bioethical principles the society will reap the greatest benefits.

There are many issues on ethical consideration that physician confront with day to day activities on how to deal with a patient suffering from advanced life-limiting illnesses like cancer. Some of these ethical issues include;

Diagnosis and Detection of Cancer; this involves that moment in which the medical expert carries out screening on the possible presence of breast cancer on getting the result where in most cases, the information received is positive whereas it is negatived in the reality. This is a dilemma faced by many medical doctors in the field of medicine. There many ways of diagnosing and screening cancer that may still attain good results. The doctor in charge of the screening ought to be careful to avoid giving false-positive results since this can lead to anxiety on the part of the patient and more so, on the family (NAEIM, REUBEN & GANZ, 2012). This too can lead to mental distress and may even lead to death due to increased stress. Cancer detection on an individual is a good sign that there is a risk of cancer in the family linage.

The extent of Patient Information; in this, doctors go into a dilemma on the information that they should let the patient know on the results achieved after the screening process. The information at hand defines the extent and possible outcome of cancer. Some patients may want to be given the extent to which cancer has spread while others want to be shielded on the same. Doctors face a lot of challenges here

Inclusion in Clinical Trials for Novel Therapies; cancer clinical trials need cancer patients so as to test their viability. However, these trials have not been tested for patient safety. Patients need to be informed before being subjected to these tests. Giving this information to the patient puts doctors into great dilemmas.

Planning Treatment; this is a situation whereby patients are not willing to undergo various medication processes (LEMCKE, 2004). An example is whereby a patient with breast cancer prefers to remain with cancer than losing her breast. Some even refuse to undergo chemotherapy due to its defects in the long run such as hair loss. Convincing a patient on the importance of the processes can be hectic.

Alternative Treatment; this involves the advice that physicians give to patients on the possible solutions to their problems such as the use of herbal treatment.

Withdrawal from Active Treatment; this involves that process in which the patient stops undergoing various treatments based on whether cancer has healed or the medication has not yielded good results. This is an ethical issue that physicians need to take great concern on the proper way to end breast cancer (LEMCKE, 2004). In conclusion, other ethical issues that should be taken considered include end of life issues, patient’s personality, religion, culture, and family life.