The importance of ethics in healthcare

No profession has a more important purpose than that of medicine: To conserve life. Naturally we can understand that each and every decision made behind the walls of a hospital has ethical influence in order to ensure its morality. This places healthcare workers in tough positions, often having to decide between choices to find the most effective, just and morally acceptable way to treat patients who entrust their very life to them. 

Ethical problems in healthcare 

A medical practitioner is a transparent occupation, with little to no confusion regarding their aim; to save lives. However, staff within a hospital are often faced with difficult ethical dilemmas, such as prioritization. In the medical world, there is no way to sugar coat the risk of a mistake, prioritizing one patient over another ultimately results in the loss of a life.

Let's put it into perspective, using the examples of Patient A and Patient B, both individuals suffering from abysmal life threatening conditions, both admitted to the hospital ward at the same time, yet different ages. If both require the aid of an organ donor as much as the other, a doctor is faced with a decision to make. Must they give Patient B the liver they require, due to the risk of obesity, despite their younger age? Or must they give Patient A the liver they demand in order to tackle the risk of liver failure, as a result of alcoholism in their older age? Often, the medical professionals must differentiate, prioritize and pick, pressured to make ethical choices that avoid gambling with a life. 

The Case of Charlie Gard 

Charlie Gard, an 11 month infant suffering from DNA depletion syndrome, was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital for emergency treatment. Upon seeing his remarkably weak state, GOSH denied Charlie from receiving Nucleoside Bypass Therapy, possibly the only way he could survive. GOSH argued that undergoing experimental treatment with “no prospects of success…would offer no benefit,” instead prolonging his pain. On July 28th 2017, against parents’ wishes, Charlie was removed from life support, and sadly passed away. This event sparked areas of debate globally, many arguing in the hospital's defense, stating that the decision made had been for Charlie’s benefit. Others claimed that the healthcare sector didnt have the right to delegate orders against patients wishes, whether beneficial or not. This case is one of many, and it gravely draws attention to difficulties within the medical profession, decisions are often not both ethically correct and beneficial for patients, and medical staff consistently work along the tightrope, desperate to find the perfect balance.