it might be said:
I INTRODUCTION
In Australia, the doctor and patient relationship does not fall within an established category of fiduciary duty. The High Court in its decisions has been unwilling to alter equity’s principles in a manner that would allow fiduciary obligations to be imposed upon doctor and patient relationships. In order to understand the High Court’s unwillingness, this essay will examine and discuss the established categories of fiduciary relationships, fiduciary relations outside of the established categories and the nature of fiduciary obligations in terms of prohibitive (negative) and prescriptive (positive) duties and existing common law duties.
II DISCUSSION
A Fiduciary Obligations and the Established
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However, when one considers the primary role of a doctor, it seems much more suitable to describe their duty as relating to ‘the exercise of reasonable care and skill in the provision of professional advice and treatment’.
At first glance, it is easy to see how even this could be perceived to be fiduciary in nature, whereby patients often confide in and depend on their doctor who they believe will act in their best interests. Even so, there is a major difference between the doctor-patient relationship and the established fiduciary relationships.
In established fiduciary relationships the fiduciary acts like ‘a representative character in the exercise of his responsibility’. When considering the role of doctors generally, it cannot be said that the role of doctors is to act as the representatives of their patients. As such, the High Court in Breen v Williams determined that it would not impose fiduciary obligations between doctor and patient since traditionally there was no such established relationship in Australian law.
B Fiduciary Relations Outside the Established Categories
In spite of this, it should be noted that ‘the categories of fiduciary relationship are not closed’ and the courts’ powers may be extended, so as to be able to find a fiduciary relationship outside the established categories. The finding of a fiduciary relationship in such circumstances will be based on the factual
Authors Note: This paper is being submitted on the 18th of March 2013 for the winter semester of Medical Law and Ethics section 05.
This research paper is being submitted on December 8, 2011, for Mara Pehkonen’s M230 Medical Law and Ethics Course.
17. Pellegrino argues for a three-tiered system of obligations incumbent upon physicians. They are in ascending order of ethical sensitivity.
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With the statement, “warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon 's knife or the chemist 's drug” physicians are given the responsibility to step down from their systematic ways of scientific thinking and make decisions on the level of human kind. The modern oath also provides for the necessary address of issues in liability in relation with a physicians judgment. This is predominately done by promoting the uniting of colleagues and defending a physicians right to be unsure in a world of so many unknowns. This acceptance and appreciation is essential for fostering a comradely among physicians that challenges each to think independently, dispute their own peers and still be conducive of making advancements.
To argue the first premise, he appeals to common knowledge that doctors hold their occupations because they are more knowledgeable in a medical context on the options for improving health and longevity. With this in mind, he then establishes that individuals who consult physicians do so in order to prolong their life and improve their well-being. By establishing these foundational premises for paternalism in a medical context, Goldman can now argue that given a patient that is determined to be acting out of line with his true values and his actions might result in harm that is severe, certain, and irreversible, it is the physician’s professional to override the patients’ immediate rights in order to preserve that patients’ more long-term desires. But how can the physician determine whether the patient is acting in line with his true values in the case of withholding medical information from the patient?
Task 1Managing medical ethics is a fundamental part of a Manager’s role. It is the responsibility of the Manager to understand the guiding principles of medical ethics and apply them within the organisation
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As someone who is interested in pursuing a career in the medical field, it becomes apparent that medicine and ethics have a unique and pertinent relationship. Everyday doctors, nurses, and other health care workers have to make ethical decisions or help families make ethical decisions for their patients. For example, in the video that featured bioethicist Toby Schonfeld, she discussed some of the ethical dilemmas faced in hospitals today. The most notable ethical conflicts she noted were physician assisted suicide, and other dilemmas such as transferring a patient to palliative care, or whether someone should get a pacemaker or not. Perhaps, in my future I will face similar ethical problems and will have to figure out a way to draw a conclusion that is the best for both the patient and their family.
Within healthcare, practitioners often have to make difficult decisions regarding the care of their patients. This could be to do with giving or withdrawing treatment, or as simple as sharing risk information (Glover, 1997). Ultimately, the practitioner must be able to rationalise any decision they have made (Morrison, 2009). With this in mind, the following assignment will draw upon an ethical dilemma and explore how theoretical perspectives can be utilised within the decision making process. Therefore it will also be pertinent to draw upon the law, and how this influences actions within health care. To facilitate this discussion, I will identify a scenario from practice that
In Gregg v Scott, Mr. Malcolm Gregg (‘the claimant’), the House of Lords examined the law of negligence in the area of personal injury. In order for the claimant to have a successful claim in court, the onus to shifts to the claimant to demonstrate that a duty of care owed by the doctor, there was a breach of that duty, an injury was sustained, and the negligence on behalf of the doctor Dr. Andrew Scott (‘defendant’) was a cause of the ‘injury’. If these elements are not satisfied, the claimant may lose its entitlement to full compensation.