Ethics Case Analysis - Essay Example

Ethics Case Analysis By Ethics Case Analysis Question I absolutely agree with Mark’s decision not to tell Annie about the seriousness of her illness. This is because telling the truth about the seriousness of her illness would cause more harm to Annie than good. This is because Annie would become psychologically affected negatively, thus becoming distressed for the rest short time remaining in her life. In the case scenario we learn that Annie did never the truth about her condition till she died and she was hopeful of recovery up to the last minute.

This fact shows that not telling Annie the truth did more good than harm to her.Question 2. The physician also should never have spoken to Annie about the seriousness of her illness. This is because withholding the truth about the seriousness of Annie’s condition by the physician did more good to Annie and her family, more than revealing the whole truth to her. This is because, had Ann known that she was about to die, she would become distressed and make her family also distressed.The main ethical dilemma in this case is to make the choice of either or not to reveal to Annie the seriousness of her illness.

Revealing the truth to Annie would have meant that the physicians and the Annie’s husband have acted in the honest way by telling Annie the truth; the main disadvantage of telling Annie the truth, however, was that Annie would become emotionally and psychologically disturbed, thus becoming distressed and making her family also distressed. Withholding the truth, on the other hand, would have meant that the physicians and Annie’s husband have acted in the best interests of Annie and her family because Annie would remain hopeful throughout the short period remaining in her life; withholding the truth from Annie, however, would mean that the physicians and Annie’s husband lied to Annie, thus acting in a dishonest way towards Annie.

Making a choice between these two options is a real dilemma because each of the options has both positive and negative consequences.The main reason why I am of the view that the Physicians should never have revealed the truth to Annie about the seriousness of her illness is that the physicians are not under any obligation to reveal the whole truth to their patients. This view is supported by Sokol when he argues that, physicians have no moral obligation to tell their patients the whole truth about their condition (2002).

For that reason, therefore, the physician acted in the morally right way by not disclosing to Annie about the seriousness of her illness. Secondly, although, withholding the truth from the patient by the physician about the physician’s health condition may seem dishonest, as long as the physician’s conscience is clear, making such a decision is morally right. This view is actually supported by Benn in his reflections on the role of conscience in medical ethics medical ethics; Benn argues that conscience can be of great help in helping the physician in making the right decisions when he/she is faced with an ethical dilemma in course of his/her practice (2005).

In this case scenario, given the fact that the physicians and the Annie’s husband decision to withhold the truth from Annie was motivated by doing good to Annie, i.e. preventing Annie from becoming distressful in the remaining short period of her life, the physicians’ and the Annie’s husband consciences must have been quite clear. For that reason, therefore, the physicians and Annie’s husband acted in the best way and in a morally right way by withholding the truth from Annie.ReferencesBenn, P.

“The role of conscience in medical ethics”. Philosophical Reflections on Medical Ethics. Basingstoke:Palgrave Macmillan.Sokol, D.K. (2006). “Truth Telling in the Doctor-Patient Relationship: A Case Analysis. Clinical Ethics Journal”. Vol.1. No.3. London: Imperial College Publishers.