U08d1 Patient Consent and Health Care Ethics - Essay Example

Running Head: U08D1 PATIENT CONSENT AND HEALTH CARE ETHICS u08d1 Patient Consent and Health Care Ethics Submitted by: XXXXXX Number: XXXXXX University of XXXXXXXThe treatment of an individual is dependent not only on the need basis but also on a consent basis. Every individual as a patient has the rights to provide the doctors with a consent to go on with the medication that they will provide. There are a number of different consents that are generally needed for different types of activities.

Consent simply implies that the person is aware of all of the procedures and agrees to let the doctor perform the same on them. These include express consent, implied consent, statutory consent and many more. In the health care industry it is necessary for the patients to provide consent for the medication unless the patient is in a life threatening emergency (Pozgar, 2007). In such cases the doctors are allowed to take the decision and to conduct the best possible treatment for the patient to help remove the patient from any situation threatening the life.

There are also other situations where the patients cannot provide the doctors with consent and these include situations like being a minor and or being incapable of making appropriate decisions for self. There are several laws that allow the health care providers to rightfully and legally refuse to provide treatment to an individual. One of the most common refusals that doctors tend to make is that of abortion services. By law the doctors have a right to refuse an abortion procedure and even in some cases the use of contraceptives.

There has also been a clause that has been passed by the government to the Federal Refusal Clause where the state, local as well as federal government may or may not provide for abortion services (Pozgar, 2007). The creation of such a law allows the doctors to take ethical decisions and does not lead to the doctors or medical care providers to be faced with a confusion of ethics versus responsibilities. There are a number of cases where the option of abortion or use of contraceptives can lead to disastrous results where it could also lead to the loss of life of the women or permanent infertility.

These might be an issue of ethics for the doctors.The rights of the individuals do not get affected here as the decision of not providing treatment is based on the law (Pozgar, 2007). If a doctor does not provide a certain treatment, it is simply because it could have severe repercussions and could also lead to the loss of life of the patient. By law an individual is not allowed to take any steps that can cause harm or be a treat for their life and any such attempt can prove to be faced with a sentence.

Hence doctors and medical care providers have been given a right to refuse treatment where they feel the treatment is morally objectionable. ReferencesPozgar, G. (2007). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. Sudsbury MA: Jones.