Medical Ethics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Medical ethics plays an extremely important, yet complex, role in the field of medicine. With two parents that work/have worked in the medical field, I have heard my fair share of stories about patients that have claimed malpractice (when a patient takes legal action against a medical professional, claiming that he or she has deviated from the standards of their medicinal practice). Medical malpractice is one of the most common forms of bad medical ethics. Good medical ethics requires a doctor to act ethically, in accordance to his or her training, and the values and morals of the office/hospital itself. A patient may claim medical malpractice if they feel as if the doctor has not acted in accordance with his or her training, or has not upheld the moral/value standards of the office/hospital. This claim can then go to court, where it is tried by a judge and sometimes a jury. Actually, as I am studying to go to law school, I have taken a particular interest in healthcare law, much of which has to do with medical malpractice.

I asked around at Asheville Eye Associates to see how many cases there had been of a patient suing a doctor for medical malpractice in recent years. The numbers I came up with were minimal, and there was not a single case in which the doctor lost the lawsuit. With Asheville Eye Associates being an ophthalmology office, the total number of claims were low (under five). You might ask why, and this is understandable. I mean, eyesight is pretty important, right? It is, but the claims are low for two reasons: 1. Asheville Eye (if I may toot the horn of my own office) is a renowned ophthalmology office with some of the best doctors in the state, if not the entire country and 2. Eye surgery is relatively low risk compared to other fields of medicine. For the most part, medical malpractice lawsuits stem from “death on the table”, where a family member or loved one has died or suffered serious injury (mental or physical) on the surgery table.

Now, let’s tie in leadership. Doctor’s are the leaders of the medical field. Therefore, in accordance with ethical theories of leadership, they must uphold the ethics of their workplace by providing for patients in the way that upholds the ethics (including values, morals, and virtues) of their workplace. Unfortunately, even if a doctor does act in accordance with their workplace ethics, and does everything they can to help a patient, things may still go wrong. The field of medicine is far from perfect, and so are the human beings that occupy the profession, as well as the human beings that are being operated on. Many times, doctors act ethically, and things still go awry. This is not unethical… What is unethical is far less common, and much more sinister… This is why healthcare law exists: if a doctor or other medical professional acts unethically, they can and will most likely be punished.