Ethical Issues in Public Health
Case Study for Week 5
Hospital Committee Case
Misty was a young, famous recording artist. She had been recording music since she was 12 years old, and now that she is 26, her fan base has grown significantly. Misty’s parents have always taught her to be humble and give back to those less fortunate. In turn, Misty performs at various benefit concerts, established her own charity for children with leukemia, and was known to donate her time to various charitable organizations. During her nationwide tour, Misty began to feel nauseous, tired with pain in her lower extremities. Misty’s mother insists she cancel her reaming tour dates and see a physician.
Misty agrees to end the tour and schedules to meet with her family doctor. The family doctor runs a few tests, and after reviewing the results of these tests, she refers Misty to a specialist. The specialist runs some test of his own and discovers that Misty has a rare kidney disease and will need a transplant or faces a lifetime of dialysis.
After several months of media coverage, a donor is located for Misty; however, this donor is also a match for 5 others ahead of Misty on the transplant list: Two are older individuals, one is a teacher, another is an accountant, and the last individual on the list ahead of Misty is a truck driver. Fearing the media storm and negative publicity they would face and anticipating all of the praise they would receive, the local hospital review committee places Misty at the top of the list and schedules her for surgery immediately. One year after Misty’s surgery, the teacher and truck driver who were ahead of her on the transplant list die. A local media outlet leaks the story that there were others ahead of Misty on the transplant list, and the families of the teacher and truck driver sue the hospital.
Please address the following in each of your responses:
2. Assess the risks involved in the situation and discuss the ethical implications (and/or legal implications)
3. Provide a rationale on the steps you chose for your resolution
4. Identify the major ethical and/or legal issue(s) in the scenario
5. Identify all those invested in the outcome (e.g. family members, patient, doctors, hospital administration, policy makers, etc)
6. Identify one action plan to resolve the issue(s) – with proper literature support
7. Discuss your personal reaction to the scenario