Conflicts Encountered In Medical Practice: A Healing Art or An Economic Activity - Essay Example

Running Head: REACTION PAPER NO Conflicts Encountered In Medical Practice: A Healing Art or An Economic Activity Name Date Abstract Doctors often encounter the challenge of viewing the practice of medicine as a healing art or as an economic activity. The decisions that they make on a day to day basis, their encounters with patients and health policy, and especially their attitudes towards these encounters are influenced by how they view society and the perspective they have as an individual. Reflecting on these challenges and your knowledge of the emergence of modern medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, explain the conflicts that you may encounter when considering the practice as a healing art &/or an economic activity. Conflicts Encountered In Medical Practice: A Healing Art or An Economic Activity Professionals are a distinct class of working individuals who are governed by a certain code of ethics and secure a specific license to practice their field of endeavor. Professional – client relationship is a contractual relationship where each party provides something the other party wants. Both parties establish an agreement or understanding on the length of the contractual relationship, the amount the client pays, what specifically will be done, and the location of the tasks to be undertaken. The ethical standards governing the existence of human life also encompass the realm of medical entities. This essay is written to present the underlying theoretical concepts and principles governing ethical decision making in the field of medicine. In addition, it aims to determine the ways in which conflicts of interest inherent in the medical profession are encounter in terms of considering the practice as a healing art &/or an economic activity. Conflict of Interests One source of conflict of interests that professionals might encounter in the medical practice lie in red tag cases: where patients confined in health institutions accrue bills which cannot be immediately settled. Because of long stay and numerous laboratory, diagnostic and therapeutic examinations, statements of account reach a staggering total which could not be immediately covered by the funds of the patient and her family. Once a patient has been classified as “red tag”, any procedure (therapeutic, diagnostic, laboratory, etc.) need to be immediately settled prior to the administration of the procedure, regardless of the necessity and the kind of the procedure to be undertaken. The rationale for this is to prevent further increases in the amount due to the hospital which might not be collected nor paid. This case poses threat to the medical profession since it inhibits the administration of the required medical attention and procedures due to the red tag policy. The above case is a conflict and an ethical dilemma which falls under deontological ethics in terms of holding that at least some acts are morally obligatory regardless of their consequences for human welfare. It clearly manifests an opposing alternative: whether to continue administering treatment (healing art) or strictly adhere to impose payment for services rendered (economic activity). Other ways in which conflict of interests arise in the medical profession are: (1) when physicians accept gifts of any kind; (2) when physicians promote products or speak in behalf of a certain organization; and (3) when physicians have a financial interest on a certain product they are prescribing, using, or recommending (Lo & Field, 2009, p. 133). These instances also exemplify cases where professionals are torn between accepting gifts (economic activity) in the course of rendering medical service (healing art) to their patients. If there are ulterior motives for gift giving (patients intending to solicit additional favors from the doctors – like priorities in diagnostic or therapeutic examinations, waiver of payments for some services, etc.- which could affect the normal delivery of health care), then, there are ethical implications and repercussions on the decisions to be made. When physicians promote products or speak in behalf of certain organizations (manufacturers of products or endorser of specialized services), there are conflicts in the administration of treatment (healing art) versus economic activity (commissions received for promoting products and services). There could be other products and services available in the markets which are competitive in prices and qualities. The decision for these could be left to the patients’ (or relatives’) prerogative or based on their personal judgments. The conflict illustrating physicians having financial interest on a certain product they are prescribing, using, or recommending is almost the same as the previous conflict discussed. The products and services promoted by physicians could have other competitively priced products of the same quality where patients could decide which ones to use. The promotion of these products would present conflicts in terms of the physicians’ priorities: product promotion (economic activity) or treatment of the patients (healing art). Conclusion There are basically five underlying theoretical framework for ethical decision making in the medical profession, to wit: deontological theory (what one must do, based on duties and obligations), teleological theory (the purpose or consequences of the moral acts), consequentiality theory (the moral value of an act, rule or policy is to be found in its consequences, not in intentions or motives), virtue ethics (seen in the way we feel is the ‘right’ way to behave towards patients and to colleagues) and casuistry (or case based reasoning, does not focus on rules and theories but rather on practical decision-making in particular cases based on precedent). (Slowther, et.al. 2004) Slowther, et.al. (2004) averred that “Beauchamp and Childress’ Four Principles approach is one of the most widely used frameworks and offers a broad consideration of medical ethics issues generally, not just for use in a clinical setting”. These principles are: “(1) respect for autonomy: respecting the decision-making capacities of autonomous persons; enabling individuals to make reasoned informed choices), (2) beneficence: balancing benefits of treatment against the risks and costs; the healthcare professional should act in a way that benefits the patient, (3) non maleficence: avoiding causing harm; the healthcare professional should not harm the patient. Most treatment involves some harm, even if minimal, but the harm should not be disproportionate to the benefits of the treatment. And (4) justice: respect for justice which takes the following forms: distribution of a fair share of benefits, legal justice - doing what the law says, rights based justice, which deals in the language, and perhaps the rhetoric, of claimed human rights, and hence goes beyond, though it includes, legal rights”. (Slowther, et.al. 2004) In this regard, based on the underlying framework for medical ethics, one should examine the rules that govern human action and the goods one is seeking in life. Conflicts arise when the interests of people do not coincide. For medical practitioners, their ultimate responsibility is to “make the care of patients the first concern” (General Medical Council, 2000, 1). This means make healing art the priority over economic activity. Doctors must be reminded that patients trust them with their lives. Their professional action must adhere to the highest standards of medical practice as stipulated in the code of ethics they pledged to abide. References General Medical Council. (2009). Good Medical Practice: Duties of a Doctor. Retrieved 22 February 2010. < http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/duties_of_a_doctor.asp> Lo, B. & Field, M. (2009). Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education and Practice. Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Slowther, A., Johnston, C., Goodall, J., & Hope, T. (2004). A practical guide for clinical ethics support. The Ethox Centre. Section C: Ethical Frameworks. Retrieved 22 February 2010. Read More