Medical Ethics involves moral principles systems that are used to apply judgments and values in the practice of medicine (Henningfeld, 2011). This can be seen to direct medical practitioners on the best cause of actions to take to ensure professionalism of the field. This involves written and un-written ethical issues and policies.
Cindy and Jenny could be seen to be both medical students at their university. This means that they are under the Medical ethics regulation. At all times, they are regulated to observe these policies in the most ethical manner possible
As it is known, it is not ethical for people to take prescribe drugs for themselves. Even if one is a doctor or a student doctor, it is not advisable for one to prescribe drugs to oneself. Also, in any case one is under medication, it is not advisable for the patient to take any alcohol or abuse any other substance. Under medical ethics, these activities are termed as un-ethical. In our case, Jenny could be seen to have violated the above ethics standards as she diagnosed herself with the drugs and ended up drinking alcohol later on. Cindy knowing what Jenny had done, she must report it to her superiors immediately as per the health professional ethics. Cindy is in a dilemma as to whether he should report Jenny or not. As no one knows of this, she could just ignore the situation and let it pass, but this will be unethical of her.
In order to make a moral decision regarding a situation, one needs to be certain of the key details and facts (Henningfeld, 2011). With these, one can be in a better position to determine what is right and what is wrong. This means that one should not make any decisions based on his or her feelings. Professionalism should be maintained at all costs so as to determine the best cause of action. In the Case Study, Cindy can be seen to be in an ethical dilemma. She needs to make a decision on whether to report his friend Jenny for going against the ethics of Medicine or to ignore the event. But she cannot rush to her decision. First, she is not sure whether Jenny took the drugs for herself or for someone else. She just saw jenny took the drugs and because of her history, she assumed the drugs were for her consumption. Cindy needs to investigate and know whether the Jenny took the pills for herself or not. Once she has determined this, she will be in a better position to make a rational decision.
In this case, Jenny is seen to take drugs then indulging in alcohol the same night. This is unethical as Jenny is endangering her life by mixing the drugs and alcohol in her body. Jenny as a medical student also should have prescribed the drugs to herself. This is unethical as she must be prescribed the drugs by a qualified health practitioner. Cindy is also facing an ethical problem as she did not report Jenny when she saw her take the drugs without anyone’s supervision. Also, she is seeing Jenny indulging with alcohol and she has taken no course of action. According to the medical ethics, these actions bring about ethical problems in the professionals and care should be taken on how to handle them.
Since Cindy is not sure of whether the actions of Jenny are pure or not, she should first investigate so as to determine the facts first. This would enable Cindy to have a strong argument when it comes to supporting her facts. On the other hand, she should try and first approach Jenny to try and reason with her the best way forward. Jenny is portrayed as a party girl who is careless from the case study. Cindy should try talk to Jenny and sensitize her on the best ways to deal with medicine and not just prescribe drugs for herself and mix it with alcohol. If this refuses, then she should see one of her superiors and report the matter so as to stop this from happening again. The best cause of action would be to approach Jenny and have a little chat with her after identifying the real facts of the case.
In this case, the most appropriate party would be a person who is friends with both Jenny and Cindy. As approaching some-one from a friendly perspective is easier than in an official capacity, it would be better if a friendlier party approached Jenny. This will minimize the tension among the parties making the conversion a meaningful one. If she proves to be stubborn, authority intervention would be of utmost importance as it would help in the gaining of the attention of Jenny and thus preventing such an incident from happening again.
Medical ethics is of importance in the practice of medicine as it helps in ensuring better service providence to patients. All health practitioners are under the obligation to abide with this principles and doctrines so as to maintain the standard of the profession.
References
Henningfeld, D. A. (2011). Medical ethics. Detroit, Mich: Greenhaven Press.
