In every profession, there comes a time when you find yourself standing at a crossroad where there are many ways to go. Unsure of what to do, you step forward only to realize that this is the wrong road. What do you do? Step back, thinking you can’t. Ethical issues in health care are dangerous situations to deal with in this regard.

Here are a few instances that would give you a fair idea about this issue in general.

Beneficence

Beneficence is a term which literally means to put good health of others as your priority. In terms of medical world, this translates to serve the patients and take actions necessary for their survival. The problem of ethical issues in health care arises when good action performed on a patient does not meet with the patients’ enthusiasm or thankfulness. For example, the doctor has to amputate one’s leg in order to save a person’s life. But will the person be thankful? No! This is because for him, his ability to move around, all by himself, is much more preferred than staying alive. Many people prefer death to immobility. This means for his entire life, he has to rely on others to do his work and this robs a person of his independence and confidence.

Non-Maleficence

The term Non-Maleficence means, "first, do no harm," or in Latin, primum non nocere. This means that the main concern of a health practitioner should be not to do harm to his patient. This is one of the most complicated ethical issues in health care industry. This is somewhat true as well. Some over zealous doctors tend to recommend methods of treatment which they think would benefit the patient. But do they realize that the treatment may or may not suit the person? This is primarily true as every person is different from the other. What works in general may not be accepted by the body of the patient. There are certain medications which are known to cure people but also have dangerous side effects. Just to continue treating a person in order to extract more money is not a good thing to do. This is one of the biggest ethical issues in health care.  Sometimes, due to ignorance of the doctor, such cases happen. For example, there are various methods of treatment where the outcome is in probability. But there is another side to this issue. Supporters say that in dire necessity where the result without surgery or treating the person will be severe, the peril of not providing treatment is also likely to do great harm. So in principle, non-maleficence is incomplete and can be taken in any way according to one’s own interpretation.

Protect yourself

One of the most important ethical issues in health care is the necessity to save oneself from infection or any other communicable diseases. Health care providers need to protect themselves too in the wake of diseases such as swine flu which is communicable in nature. In reality, the law of the land provides every individual a right to protect oneself from such diseases and take preventive measures. At the same time, being in such a profession, the health care providers need to expose themselves to the risks of getting infected as they come in regular contact with the patients. Here the question of “to do or not” arises and poses a lot of questions to the human mind. What is important – The right to save oneself or others who need immediate attention to get back their health.

Who is the closest relative?

Ethical issues in health care come into picture when families and relations have changed. Here, is a simple example to help you understand better. Picture a man who is on the surgery table with decisions to be taken. He has two families. Who do you consider the closest – The new wife of a lesser time or an ex-wife who has spent many years with him and probably knows him better than the new one? But then the ex-wife does not have any legal rights. These situations are very delicate and require a lot of careful handling of the situation.

Ethical issues are faced in every industry, but the ethical issues in health care are a little tricky to handle. It is a matter of life and death for some and for others, even the smallest of small decisions, can alter the course of your life. There have been many debates about these issues worldwide and still no consensus has been reached yet.

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