Moral Dilemmas in Dr. Lim's Overcharge Case

Running head: MORAL DILEMMAS DR. LIM’S OVERCHARGE CASE
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Solving Dr. Susan Lim’s Case
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MORAL DILEMMAS DR. LIM’S OVERCHARGE CASE 2
Solving Dr. Susan Lim’s Case
Introduction
Ethics involves a set of rules or principles that shape morals in an individual or groups.
Ethics determine what choices are to be made based on whether they are morally right or wrong.
In the counseling profession, ethics underpin the course and nature of actions that the counselors
take. Ethics demand that counselors and all other professionals who help clients need to behave
in a manner that is highly ethical (Hanson, 2014). From the nature of counseling profession,
counselors should operate in the best of their clients’ interest, promoting the goals of their clients
and protecting their rights, maximizing the good or right and minimizing the harm. This aspect
broadens based on the inherent power that exists between the counselors and their clients. In this
case, ethics have various principles and ethical codes whose aim is to balance the power of the
profession while ensuring that counselors operate for their good and that of the client. Primarily,
it is the duty of the counselors to care and protect their clients (Dr. Susan Lim, 2016). During the
ethical choice making process, counselors need to consider the organization or agency, the
greater community and profession besides themselves. The counseling does not happen in a
vacuum and thus, it is essential for counselors to acknowledge the various facets in their
profession both externally and internally. The paper targets to evaluate the moral dilemmas in
Dr. Susan Lim’s case.
Case study
The case study involves Doctor Susan Lim who is being investigated for exorbitantly
charging a Brunei patient for the services she rendered to her in a cancer treatment process. The
doctor who is credited for being the first paramedic to conduct a successful liver transplant is

MORAL DILEMMAS DR. LIM’S OVERCHARGE CASE 3
now facing charges for having overcharged her patient for breast cancer treatment procedure.
The patient is a young sister to the queen of the Brunei royal family and a cousin to the sultan.
She is now about to lose the ability to practice if the allegations directed against her are to go by.
She is claimed to have charged the patient more than £12million which equals $24m Singapore
dollars for a service she rendered for six months in 2007 (Khalik, 2013). In 2012 an investigation
was launched by the SMC (Singapore medical council) after the patient later died and the Brunei
family tabled the case against her. So far Dr. Susan has been found guilty of more than 94 times
and the court gave her a three-month suspension from practicing as a punishment for her moral
misconduct. The court also fined her some £5,000 ($10,000) and forced to sign a commitment
that the felony would not be repeated in the near future (Khalik, 2014). The patient identified as
Pengiran Hajah Damit Anak was brought under the care of doctor Lim in 2001 and died in 2007
of breast cancer. The documents filed against her in court details about the bills she had been
charging the patient from 2004, though those between 2001 and 2004 are not known The (Straits
Times, 2016). These bills show an exaggerated charging for the services and this made the
Brunei family go to court.
Moral dilemmas in the case study
A moral dilemma involves a situation whereby individuals have to make decisions
regarding the best action course to take from various action courses, on the basis or right or
wrong and regardless of which action course is taken, there exist some compromises of moral
principles (Harding, 2011). In the healthcare profession, there exists no direct relationship
between medical healthcare services and profits. However, a reasonable and fair consideration in
exchange for the professional medical care services offered may be totally justifiable. There are
two moral dilemmas in the above Lim’s case study which include the following. One moral

MORAL DILEMMAS DR. LIM’S OVERCHARGE CASE 4
dilemma is that Dr. Lim can agree and apologize for having overcharged and manipulated the
medical bills against her patient with the key aim of making exorbitant profits (Daily Mail,
2016). The second moral dilemma involves her way of trying to escape the ongoing legal suit
against her misconduct where she threatens to reveal the sensitive information her patient
revealed to her during the treatment process which should be confidential. The dilemma is
whether she can apply this threat to save herself or not.
Moral theories
A moral theory refers to a theory which offers a fair basis of judgment to an individual
regarding a solution to a given problem. Theories help people arrive at a conclusion that tends to
determine whether a give action is morally upright or not. The key objectives in the theory are to
find among given courses of action is the best to take regarding the situation and which one is
wrong. Though all moral theories contradict each other based on some given contexts, they all
try to guide people concerning their personal or professional behaviors (Broad, 2013). Moral
theories have a rigid approach that is conservative whereas ethics have a practical and flexible
approach. The moral dilemma that Lim faces can be solved using a moral theory and a model of
ethical decision making. They tend to shade some light regarding whether the behavior of Lim is
right or wrong (Dreier, 2006). Among the various moral theories include the deontology,
teleology, hard universalism and soft universalism which are useful in professional and personal
contexts.
Teleology moral theory
The teleology theory states that the end result determines the morality of an action. In this
case, when the end result is good, the approach or action applied in getting a good outcome
remains justified (Schmid, 2011). As per the theory, doctor Lim’s action of overcharging her