Legal and Ethical Considerations in a Case Study

Running head: ASSESSMENT TASK 3 ESSAY 1
Assessment Task 3 Essay
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Number of words: 2024

ASSESSMENT TASK 3 ESSAY 2
Assessment Task 3 Essay
Introduction
The case study provided involves a 14-year-old, Taylah. She visited the clinic to get advice regarding sex
and contraception. She was referred to the clinic by her school nurse. Taylah stays with her mother in
NSW and her stepfather, John. The client has diabetes and explains that she is no comfortable with the
dietary pattern that she was given. She also reports that her mother is strict and often restricts her life
choices. She explains that she is sexually active and has had sexual contacts on numerous occasions
including with random boys while at a party. Taylah informs the nurse not to discuss what they talked
about in the interview with her mother. Based on the discussion that the nurse had with Taylah, there are a
number of legal and ethical issues that are involved. These include autonomy, justice, beneficence, and
non-maleficence. These ethical principles guide the decisions of physicians (Bjorklund & Lund, 2019).
Some of the ethical principles that govern the medical field have been in use for centuries. Hippocrates,
for instance, ordered health providers “to help and do no harm” during the 4th century.
Ethical guides regarding respecting the autonomy of a person and promoting justice have been applied
since the creation of societies in the early times. In 1979 however, Tom Beauchamp and James Childress
provided an ethical framework that guides physicians when faced with ethical dilemmas (Beauchamp,
2016). They published a book called Principles of Biomedical Ethics, which promotes the application of
principlism in a bid to deal with ethical issues arising in clinical medicine. The Belmont report in the
same year came up with three principles; respect for persons, beneficence, and justice as the guiding
factors in research (Fisher, 2011). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the relevant legal and ethical
considerations presented in the provided case scenario and explain how Beauchamp and Childress’ Four
main ethical principles apply to the case study.
I. Respect for Autonomy
One of the ethical issues that are evident in the provided case scenario is confidentiality and respect for
the views and beliefs of clients. The client in the case study is a minor, aged 14. In such a scenario, the
rules and regulations in Victoria regarding the treatment of minors requires physicians to keep
confidential all the information shared by a patient (“Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
(Victoria) Act.” 2009). A physician is however obligated to report to a parent or guardian in the case that
the minor is in danger or plans to harm others (Lindberg et al., 2014). The physician in the case study has
effectively aligned with this rule in her treatment plan. She informs Taylah that she is free to share any
information that she has. She explains to her that the questions that she would ask would be personal and

ASSESSMENT TASK 3 ESSAY 3
she is free not to answer some of the questions that she is not comfortable to ask. “....some you might
wish to answer, that’s fine” (Assessment Three Case Study Video). By informing her about this, it
assures Taylah that her choices would be respected. The other ethical issue in the case study is consent.
The physician seeks consent from the client before beginning her treatment process. After explaining to
her the details of the treatment process, she seeks approval. The physician asks “......is that okay with
you.” (Assessment Three Case Study Video). By asking her this question, it shows that the physician
understands that Taylah knows she can choose not to take part in the treatment process. She offers her a
chance to agree to the treatment procedure to be used.
According to the principle of respect for autonomy, patients have a right to make own informed decisions
regarding their health. Patients should be given autonomy of action, thought and intention as they make
decisions regarding their health. As a physician, therefore, one should only offer advice and suggestions
to a patient and let them make their own decisions (Magill, 2015). Cases where physicians try to coerce
their patients to make certain decisions amount to a violation of this ethical framework. The physician in
the provided case study exhibited respect for the autonomy of the client by respecting her wishes. This is
evident when the physician asked Taylah about the drugs that she has abused. Before answering that
question, Taylah asks her not to inform her mother. The physician assures her that whatever they are
discussing would not be shared with any other person. She further informs her that she could, however,
discuss what they talked about with her mother (Assessment Three Case Study Video). By doing, this it
shows that the physician supports the decisions taken by Taylah. Beauchamp and Childress in their study
indicated that respect for autonomy does not involve just waiting for a client to give consent (Beauchamp
& Childress, 2013). They explain that it involves providing clients with information that would enable
them to be free at any circumstance.
II. The Principle of Non-maleficence
This principle follows the Hippocratic Oath which urges health providers to always ensure that they do no
harm to their clients. This is a quite complex ethical framework given that in some cases, physicians are
faced with scenarios where harm is inevitable. Beauchamp and Childress (2013) explain that in such
circumstances, a physician would be morally bound to select the option that offers less harm. They
continue to explain that the lesser harm would be determined based on the prevailing circumstances. For
instance, many clients would accept to experience some form of pain in the event that the medical
procedure would result in prolonged life. In other scenarios however such as when a patient might be
dying as a result of intestinal carcinoma, a client might prefer to forego CPR if cardiac arrest occurs or