Legal and Ethical Principles in Healthcare: Analysis of a Case Study

RUNNING HEAD; LEGAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN HEALTH 1
Legal and ethical principles in healthcare
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LEGAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN HEALTHCARE 2
Legal and Ethical principles in Healthcare
In healthcare, doctors and other healthcare workers are often confronted with challenging
situations that require adequate knowledge of healthcare ethics and legal regulations and
guidelines that they are forced to abide by in order to make just, legally abiding and morally right
decisions. According to Degeling, Johnson, Kerridge, Wilson, Ward, Stewart, & Gilbert, (2015)
the main ethical principles in healthcare include beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and
autonomy. These are the four universally accepted ethical grounds often consulted by healthcare
providers. There may be more or less depending on the environment, country or professional
body that regulate the service. For the legal considerations, it largely depends on the country as
well as the regulatory board and international law. In Richard’s case study, there are both legal
and ethical scenarios that are discussed in breadth in this paper.
Ethical issues
Beneficence is one of the universal principles of ethics and legal frameworks.
Beneficence as a principle upholds the value of human life argues Carter, Detering, Silvester, &
Sutton, (2016). The principle requires of all health care providers to always act in the best
interests of the patient at all circumstances whatever the situation. In addition, all therapeutic
undertakings must also be done in the best interests of the patient (McLean, 2016). The
healthcare team therefore needs to have sufficient knowledge and skills so as to be able to handle
various different circumstances and to be able to decide which undertaking will best benefit the
patient.
Based on the evidence in the case study, it is quite clear that Meryl really upholds this
value. This is evident in the sense that she has a very positive attitude towards the treatment and

LEGAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN HEALTHCARE 3
urges the healthcare team to do anything possible to help Richard improve his health. This is
amid the fact that she already knows that Richard would not like to be dependent on other people
if he were to be consulted. In addition, His colleague Lucas has also presented evidence that
Richard had foresaid that he should not let him suffer in such kind of an illness. Lucas quotes an
instance where Richard had told him that if at any one time he is unable to depend on himself
and to help his family, he should just let him die by disconnecting the support system. The
healthcare team has also expressed doubts in his recovery and they have overwhelmingly
supported the fact that if the patient himself would also choose death, then it would be unjust not
to let the patient die.
An ethical dilemma presents itself in the sense that the patient is mentally incapacitated
as he is suffering from traumatic brain injury. The patient is therefore unable to make judgments
regarding his health. Based on the legal and ethical frameworks, Maylea, (2017) explains that the
family is therefore empowered to make decisions on behalf of the patient. In this case however,
the family members tend to have a contrasting opinion with what the patient should choose if
they were given a chance. It is however not quite necessary to judge Meryl based on her stand
because granting the patient wishes would also raise issues of euthanasia which is not quite legal
according to the Australian legal framework argues Rock, and Degeling, (2015). However it
carries so much weight due to the fact that it is in line with autonomy and it is coming from the
patient.
In this case however, the health team is left without an option due to the fact that the
patient did not have an affidavit or a legally binding document detailing the nature of treatment
that he wishes to be accorded to him and when his life can be terminated due to a terminal