Deontological Ethics and the Case of Dr. George Tyndall at USC

This article analyzes the case of Dr. George Tyndall at USC and applies the deontological ethics system by Kant to the situation. The article discusses the moral duty of Dr. George Tyndall as a gynecologist and the ethical responsibilities of the university. An annotated bibliography on related topics is also included.

Running head: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, ETHICS & STRATEGY
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, ETHICS & STRATEGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Problem statement
Garrulous and tall, Dr. George Tyndall served as the full time gynecologist for about 30
years in the health clinic of the students at the University of South California. With more than 10
thousands of female students and teenagers of the university as patients, Dr. George Tyndall
continued to serve as the one and only gynecologist for the female students. From the year 1990,
ranges of complaints were reported against the doctor regarding his improper treatment and
misconduct towards the teenagers and the young patients (Ryan, Hamilton & Pringle, 2018). The
problem statement for the assignment argues the fact that despite of repeated complaints and
accusations of the improper behaviors by Dr. George, he was still allowed to see the patients by
the University of South California. Published on the daily express news paper of Los Angeles
Times and edited by Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle, the article illustrates the
misconduct and the accusation by the young women on the behavior of the treating doctor Dr.
George Tyndall. The article explains how the doctor is engaged in improper photography of the
genital of the student, creepy behavior, touching in inappropriate places during pelvic
examinations and passing sexually aggressive comments to the female students.
Analysis section
The term ‘deontology’ is originated from the Greece terminology ‘deon’ that means duty.
The theory related to deontology as per Kant’s, is an approach towards the context of ethics that
targets on the rightness and the wrongness of the actions in themselves as targeted towards
opposition to the consequences of those actions and the habits of the actor (Bowen & Prescott,
2015). Deontological ethics in the subject of philosophy includes the theories of ethics placing
special emphasis on the connection and the relation among the duty and the morality of the

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actions of the human. According to the theories and the explanation by Kant, the basic moral
wrath elated to the action is generally denoted by the wishes or the will of the human which is
actually the only things in the entire world that can be judged or considered good enough without
any general degree or qualification. The perspectives of the good or happy will are generally
exercised via the action related to the moral duties and the general laws consisting of the set of
maxims and the acts of the duty in accordance with the categorical imperatives (Peachman,
2016). The theory by the Kant furthermore states the true moral proposition connected to specific
conditions that includes the identity of the person for making of the specific decision. The theory
furthermore expressed the categorical imperatives explaining the action in the way to treat in a
way of humanity. Belonging to personal perspective in the same moral theory, the theory by
Kant’s contradicts the context of moral law.
In the above scenario, Deontological Ethics System by Kant can be explained or
illustrated with the context of the practicing of Dr. George Tyndall in the university as the one
and only health professional for the female students. The theory contradicts the idea of ethics of
the university who still allowed the doctor to continue its practice even after several reports of
molestation and misbehaves by numerous teenager girls (Raheel et al., 2016). The university
suspended him 2016 when a frustrated nurse raised complaints for his actions in campus rape
crisis center. As a doctor and the only gynecologist in the university health care center, it is the
moral duty of Dr. George Tyndall to serve his patents or take care of the women in the university
with proper dignity and respect. In accordance to the ethics in the field of medical, the doctors or
the health care professionals are entitled to the system of moral principles that is applicable to the
values to the practices of the clinical medicine and scientific research (Rahman, Chowdhury &

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Hossain, 2017). The doctor Dr. George Tyndall should have abided by the values that included
respect for the autonomy, beneficence, non malfeasance and justice.
Annotated Bibliography
Peachman, R. R. (2016). What you don’t know about your doctor could hurt you. Consumer
reports.
The article illustrates the scenario in the united states where thousands of doctors are on their
medical probation for some of the targeted reasons that includes sexual misconduct, drug abuse
and carelessness towards the patients which are often reported as deadly. The article highlights
one of the incidents where a doctor surgically removed the ovary of an 37 year old patient in a
wrong manner. The article furthermore includes incidents of doctors misbehaving with the
patients, with the mothers of new born babies in the female wards. The authors of this article
reports towards the issues and hopes for the changing of the system.
Rahman, M. M., Chowdhury, M. H., & Hossain, M. G. (2017). Study of Rape Cases Recorded at
a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh. Journal of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, 6(2),
64-66.
Rape is one of the major global problems. The epidemiology of the instances of the rape tends to
differ from one country to another. The article highlights the study for the determination
regarding the incidence of the cases of rape and assaults in some of the territory hospitals in the
country of Bangladesh. The article highlights some of the retrospective studies that was
furthermore conducted over the general characteristics regarding the reported rape cases in the
departments of the forensic medicine at the Dinajpur medical college. The result furthermore
illustrated the result of total number of 300 cases that were gathered for the study that

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highlighted the case of rape and sexual assault of women of different age group by the doctors or
the heath care professionals in the hospital while they were admitted in the hospital for some
treatment. Some of the more specific and detailed data revealed that 2/3 of the cases includes
victims of the age group among 14 to 20 years. The author of the article revealed the scenario
and the rate of the rape which is comparatively higher in case of the lower section of the socio
economic group of people.

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References
Bowen, S. A., & Prescott, P. (2015). Kant’s contribution to the ethics of communication. Ethical
Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 12, 38-44.
Harriet Ryan, Matt Hamilton, Paul Pringle. (2018, May 16). A USC doctor was accused of bad
behavior with young women for years. The university let him continue treating students -
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-usc-
doctor-misconduct-complaints-20180515-story.html
Jagadeesh, N. (2014). Recent changes in medical examination of sexual violence cases. Journal
of Karnataka Medico Legal Society, 23(1), 36-40.
Nilsen, S., & Malterud, K. (2017). What happens when the doctor denies a patient’s request? A
qualitative interview study among general practitioners in Norway. Scandinavian journal
of primary health care, 35(2), 201-207.
Peachman, R. R. (2016). What you don’t know about your doctor could hurt you. Consumer
reports.
Raheel, M. S., Yadav, A., Pooniya, S., Gupta, S. K., & Jaiswal, A. K. (2016). Potency test of a
rape accused in India–Rationale, problems and suggestions in light of the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 6(4), 333-336.
Rahman, M. M., Chowdhury, M. H., & Hossain, M. G. (2017). Study of Rape Cases Recorded at
a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh. Journal of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical
College, 6(2), 64-66.

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Wessel, M., Lynöe, N., Juth, N., & Helgesson, G. (2014). Bad apples or bad barrels? Qualitative
study of negative experiences of encounters in healthcare. Clinical Ethics, 9(2-3), 77-86.