Duty to Treat

Paper Summary:

As the primary goal of their ethical calling, physicians, nurses, and other health care workers are obliged to treat sick and potentially infectious patients and, in so doing, they are to take some personal risk. The paper examines this fact within the context of present day health threats such as SARS, AIDS/HIV, and bioterror infections. The paper looks at the circumstances under which a physician might end his relationship with his patient and the legislative laws governing the issue.

From the Paper:

"Many laws, however, prominently laws governing emergency treatment in hospitals and out of ethical constraints, have limited a physician's ability to terminate such a relationship with a patient. Congress enacted the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, to ward off or contain "patient dumping" by hospitals, primarily because of the patients? inability to pay for medical services (Katz and Paul). EMTALA obliged hospitals and their physicians to extend medical screening examinations and medical stabilization to all who seek emergency care, regardless of the ability to pay. Physicians who refused to comply could be subjected to monetary penalties and exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid programs for such a violation (Katz and Paul)."

More papers on Duty to Treat:

• Essay # 41542 : "Duty, Command, the Community and Love"
• Analytical Essay # 137099 : "Cartesian Dualism and Kantian Ethics"
• Essay # 64841 : "The Role of American Women in the Vietnam War"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: