Medical Ethics & Professionalism Flashcards

A patient's family asks the physician not to disclose a cancer diagnosis to the patient, claiming it will cause psychological harm. The physician should:

Answer: Disclose the diagnosis to the patient, respecting their right to know

Truth-telling is a core ethical obligation; the patient has the right to know their diagnosis to make informed decisions about their care.

Under the principle of justice in healthcare, resource allocation decisions should primarily be based on:

Answer: Medical need and expected clinical benefit

Justice requires that healthcare resources be distributed based on medical need and expected benefit, not socioeconomic or social factors.

A physician treating a patient with HIV learns that the patient is having unprotected sex with an uninformed partner. After counseling the patient fails to change behavior, the physician should:

Answer: Warn the identifiable at-risk partner, balancing confidentiality with harm prevention

When a serious and identifiable risk to a third party exists and cannot be mitigated otherwise, breach of confidentiality to warn may be ethically and legally justified.

Which of the following best describes 'therapeutic privilege'?

Answer: Withholding information from a patient when disclosure would cause serious psychological harm

Therapeutic privilege refers to the controversial practice of withholding information from a patient when the physician believes disclosure would cause serious harm, though it is rarely justified ethically.

A nurse reports to the physician that a patient is showing signs of domestic abuse. The physician's primary ethical and legal obligation is to:

Answer: Document findings, address the patient's safety, and report as required by law

Physicians must document suspected abuse, prioritize patient safety, provide support, and fulfill mandatory reporting obligations under applicable law.

The concept of 'double effect' in medical ethics is most relevant when:

Answer: An action intended to benefit the patient may foreseeably cause harm as a side effect

The doctrine of double effect permits an action with a harmful side effect if the intent is to achieve a good outcome and the harm is not the means to that outcome.

Which scenario BEST illustrates a breach of professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship?

Answer: A physician entering into a romantic relationship with a current patient

Romantic or sexual relationships with current patients constitute a serious breach of professional boundaries due to the inherent power imbalance.