The Status of Medical Ethics in the Process of Legal Application
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Chen, Hsuan-yu
Abstract
Medical litigations have aroused pervasive public concerns recently. In well-known cases, judgments of courts reflect not only patient safety issues, but most of all, how to distribute resources fairly, and how to value liabilities. So far discussions about medical dispute often concentrate on single-dimensional approach, and lead to different conclusions. These conflicts between viewpoints from different academies lead to chaos in norm of behavior in medical practices.
In order to find a resolution to the conflicts of medical ethics and legal system, the author tries to build a model for how medical ethics and law interacts. Firstly by illustrating the characteristics of medical ethics, it shows how medical ethics guide doctors when they make decisions and the importance of medical ethics in daily practices. Consequently, the conflicts of legal norms and medical ethics bring about negative effects on doctors'' decision-making, such as defensive medicine. Therefore, a more coherent structure for medical ethics on legal application should be established to reach the integrity of value in a mutual community, and it can help doctors act more confidently.
Furthermore, the understanding to medicine on legal application should be based on the nature of how medical law define medical practices, so that when determining whether a doctor has accomplished his duty of care, one may be more certain that he hasn''t violate the regulations of law and requirements of medical ethics. Hence when applying the tools of legal application, medical ethics should always be put into consideration, and when occasionally judges have reach their limit, then legislators need to exert their power over confining legal system and distributing resources. Since the judgments of court can actually be integrate with the sanction of medical ethics, judges has obligation to reason giving, and a judge ought to alleviate the liability of one who acts according to medical ethics. Besides, in cases which perpetrator significantly fail to respect the value of the community, judges should timely offer a feedback to the ethical system to pursue the integrity of community values.
The objective of this thesis is to establish a standing for medical ethics in legal application. If doctors who stick to their professionalism and ethics can have confidence in their decision making, the tension between doctors and patients would relieve because of less defensive medicine. And if the community has consensus in pursuing a mutual value, then medical decision making would be refined, and we will be more capable of dealing with the challenge to come.
Subjects
Medical Ethics
Legal Application
Integrity
Duty of Care in Medical Practice
Ethical Dilemma
Type
thesis
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