Law and Ethics 1: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Healthcare

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between medical law and ethics, using Archie's case, a child born with a rare genetic disorder, as a focal point. The assignment explores the ethical dilemmas arising from the case, including parental autonomy in decision-making, the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, and the complexities surrounding end-of-life care. It examines the legal framework governing healthcare, patient rights, and the responsibilities of medical professionals. The essay analyzes the ethical issues of autonomy, beneficence, and justice, considering the doctor's dilemma, the hospital's pressure, and the parents' choices. The essay also provides recommendations for professional practice, emphasizing the importance of respecting patient wishes, providing comprehensive information, and seeking legal intervention when necessary. The essay concludes by highlighting the importance of balancing legal and ethical considerations to protect human rights and promote human dignity in medical practice.

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Law and Ethics
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Law and ethics.
Introduction.
Medical law refers to the legislations that have been put in place the guide the relationship
between the patient and the healthcare providers (Herring, 2015). It has regulated the process of
health intervention and stipulates the boundaries within which each of the parties are expected to
work. A violation of any of the requirement can be the basis of the commencement of a civil or
criminal proceedings. The laws also clearly explain the right of the patients which must be
upheld at all times. These legal requirements attract a penalty for perpetrators who violate them.
Ethics are the values that are set by a professional body. Every member of the body is expected
to adhere strictly to the requirements and faces risk of being deregistered if they do not comply
(Fremgen, 2016). They may or may not be a requirement by the law. They may therefore not
necessarily attract a legal proceeding. These are the expectations of a healthcare provider by their
peers in a certain situation. The expectations may be different depending on the level of training
and the experience they have. Some ethics may however contradict the laws of the land. This is
usually a very confusing moment to many who are torn between the conflicting responses.
Generally, it is undeniable that these regulations set a better basis for patient healthcare provider
interaction. They emphasize on upholding human dignity and human rights in the line of duty.
Healthcare providers get to know how different situations will be looked at in light of the law.
They can therefore make the most appropriate clinical decisions aware of the likely repercussion.

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Ethical issues in Archie’s case.
Archie has been born with Encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. This is
a disease that has no cure. It’s rare and has a very high mortality rate according to research. A
patient is advised to be taken to a palliative care to manage their pain before the end of life.
Archie’s parents are advised by Mandy to enroll her to a clinical trial research but they opt to
take her home. Later she becomes ill and is brought to the hospital and admitted in the neonatal
intensive care unit and is under observance. The doctor advices her parents to withdraw
treatment but they still feel that they should continue fighting after they talked to Mandy. The
hospital management is concerned of the available bed spaces and want the doctor to convince
her to withdraw treatment.
This case scenario sparks up some legal and ethical issues that need to be scrutinized. Archie is a
minor and the parents can consent or refuse treatment on her behalf. The parents after advice
from Mandy and the doctor on the available options, they area allowed to make their own
decision immediately after her birth. Later when she gets ill, the doctor is in a dilemma. He has
the responsibility to ensure autonomy in decision making. He can only advise Archie’s parents
but cannot coarse them to take a particular step, though he feels would be the best for her. The
management is on the doctor’s neck in an attempt to create beds for other patients. all these steps
would be taken with the best of intentions but may spark some legal controversy. The end of life
care and procedure is also put in the spotlight (Silvers, Rhodes & Battin, 2015). These are ethical
issues and dilemma and their relation to the existing laws.

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Analysis of the ethical issues.
Autonomy has brought out as an important aspect of patient care. It is one of the bioethical
principles that have been adopted in healthcare. According to Clement (2018), a patient should
be well informed of their condition and be accorded all the necessary information necessary for
them to make a decision. Archie’s parents have been informed of her condition. They have been
advised to take her to a palliative clinic by the doctor, Mandy informs them of a research that she
would be well suited to enroll. Although all these professionals feel that their advice would be
the best for Archie, they can only provide the information and let the parents make the decision.
According to Beauchamp (2016), the principle of autonomy in ethics requires that, before one
consents to anything, they should be well informed and not subjected to coercion. Even though,
the doctor advised them to withdraw treatment, he can only honor their decision whatsoever.
Only that which they have consented to.
Withdrawal of treatment option, in end of life care, attracts both legal and ethical concerns (Dent,
Harden & Hunt, 2017). According to the laws of Australia, withdrawal of treatment is one of the
advanced care directives. It is stated by the patient before they are incapacitated to make
decisions or by an individual given the powers of attorney to make such a request (Carter, et.al,
2016). In the case of Archie, her parents have the legal mandate to make a decision on her
behalf. She does not have the consensual age hence the law confers the responsibility of decision
making to her guardians. However, a doctor can make case before the Family Court to seek an
intervention of the court on a decision made by the parents if they feel concerned about it. In the
recent years the court has exercised its authority by conferring the power to decide on the

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withdrawal of treatment to the parents. The decision to continue with treatment should be
honored as the law requires.
An ethical concern also arises. In this case, the doctor is supposed to suggest an intervention in
the best interest of the patient they are attending to. The administrations interest of creating more
space is very logical. Some patients may be denied treatment on the basis of lack of space. Once
the doctor agrees to take care of a patient, they assume the duty of care for them (Thomas, Lobo
& Detering, 2017). Their judgement should be in the best interest of the patient. Their proposal
should be based on clinical judgments and the facts at hand. The principle of beneficence
suggests that the benefits should counteract the risks therewith. The continuing of treatment for a
patient should be beneficial to her. The continued therapeutic treatment was termed as futile. The
medical intervention implemented brings more stress to her body. To prevent further suffering, it
would be advisable to withdraw treatment.
The right to life has been provided for in the constitution (Runciman, Merry & Walton, 2017).
Taking it away is prohibited. The issue of withdrawing has never been fully settled. Some are
still opposed to the idea of anyone deciding that treatment is no longer a viable option. Mixed
feelings have been evoked by this approach. Religious and cultural inclinations have brought
about this disparity. This is an ethical issue that depends on a person’s beliefs and morality.
Archie has the right to healthcare. The hospital should not deny her this right on the basis of
creating more space for other patients. the hospital can only advice. she, through her parents, is
the only one with the right to choose what happens to her under those circumstances.
Recommendation for professional practice.

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Under the prevailing circumstances, the doctor can only honor the wish of the parents. Despite
him having an opinion that the treatment is futile, he is bound by law to do as the patient wishes
(Byard & Payne-James, 2015). He also has an obligation to fully inform the parents of the
clinical diagnosis without withholding any information that may be necessary to consider before
decision making. He has a responsibility to take care of her until their contact is terminated. A
breach of the contract is unethical though it may not necessarily be unlawful. In this case, if the
doctor feels that he is not going to provide any more care he may opt to be excluded. As per the
ethical values, this may be treated as unprofessional. The doctor, in my idea, should maintain the
relationship with the patient. He should advise them accordingly and let them make a decision
without the coercion of the hospital administration.
If continued treatment is observed to cause more harm than good, the doctor can seek legal
intervention from the Family Court (Wilmott et. al, 2014). According to the principle of
beneficence, any intervention should have an overall beneficial effect. The court can listen to the
case made and rule in the best interest of the patient. If there is no overall adverse effect resulting
from treatment, he should honor the wishes of the parents.
The principle of justice should be upheld. She should not be refused treatment under any
condition. Her right to treatment cannot be revoked. The right to human dignity suggests that one
is accorded the right on the basis of being human. The right to treatment should be accorded as
one of the components of human dignity. It’s a way to attain the highest level of dignity and
wellness

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Conclusion.
The ideals of medical laws and ethics guide the response of medical care providers in different
dilemmas (Johnson, et. al, 2017). A balance between what is considered ethical and legal should
be identified. It’s possible to confuse the two, especially when they conflict in the manner in
which they address a particular issue. Both of them form an important component of medical
practice. They are fashioned to ensure protection of human rights and promoting human dignity.

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References.
Clement, G. (2018). Care, autonomy, and justice: Feminism and the ethic of care. Routledge.
Beauchamp, T. L. (2016). Principlism in Bioethics. In Bioethical Decision Making and
Argumentation (pp. 1-16). Springer, Cham.
Dent, J., Harden, R. M., & Hunt, D. (2017). A practical guide for medical teachers. Elsevier
Health Sciences.
Thomas, K., Lobo, B., & Detering, K. (Eds.). (2017). Advance care planning in end of life care.
Oxford University Press.
Johnson, S., Kerridge, I., Butow, P. N., & Tattersall, M. H. (2017). Advance Care Planning: is
quality end of life care really that simple? Internal medicine journal, 47(4), 390-394.
Carter, R. Z., Detering, K. M., Silvester, W., & Sutton, E. (2016). Advance care planning in
Australia: what does the law say?. Australian Health Review, 40(4), 405-414.
Runciman, B., Merry, A., & Walton, M. (2017). Safety and ethics in healthcare: a guide to
getting it right. CRC Press.
Willmott, L., White, B., Smith, M. K., & Wilkinson, D. J. (2014). Withholding and withdrawing
life-sustaining treatment in a patient's best interests: Australian judicial deliberations. Medical
Journal of Australia, 201(9), 545-547.
Silvers, A., Rhodes, R., & Battin, M. P. (2015). Introduction. In Physician Assisted Suicide (pp.
1-8). Routledge.
Byard, R., & Payne-James, J. (2015). Encyclopedia of forensic and legal medicine. Academic
Press.

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Herring, J. (2015). Q&A Medical Law. Routledge.
Fremgen, B. F. (2015). Medical law and ethics. Prentice Hall.