Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards
7 cards from real ADM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Ethics & Patient Rights flashcards as text
A patient with severe alcohol use disorder is brought to the ED intoxicated and unable to consent. They have no advance directive. What guides the physician's treatment decisions?
Answer: Best interest standard given the patient's incapacity
When a patient lacks decision-making capacity and no surrogate or advance directive is available, the best interest standard guides treatment.
A physician learns that a patient in a buprenorphine program is driving while impaired. After counseling the patient, the behavior continues. What is the next most appropriate step?
Answer: Consult state law regarding duty-to-warn obligations and consider notification of authorities if required
Physicians must balance confidentiality with duty-to-protect obligations defined by state law when a patient poses a danger to others.
Which of the following best describes the ethical concept of 'therapeutic privilege'?
Answer: Withholding information from a patient when disclosure would harm them, justifying paternalistic non-disclosure
Therapeutic privilege refers to withholding information from a patient on the grounds that disclosure would cause harm, though it is widely criticized as undermining autonomy.
A patient with opioid use disorder discloses active heroin use during a confidential research study on addiction treatment. The researcher suspects the patient is also selling heroin. What is the most appropriate action?
Answer: Maintain research confidentiality as agreed in the consent form and consult the IRB if needed
Research participants are protected by the terms of the consent agreement; deviations require IRB consultation unless imminent danger exists.
A physician practicing addiction medicine observes a colleague diverting controlled substances for personal use. What is the ethically required response?
Answer: Report the conduct to the appropriate institutional or licensing authority
Physicians have a professional obligation to report colleague impairment or misconduct that poses a risk to patient safety.
A patient with active cocaine use disorder is listed for a liver transplant. The transplant team wants to remove the patient from the list due to continued use. What ethical framework should guide this decision?
Answer: Fair procedural justice — apply transparent, consistent criteria that do not discriminate based on SUD diagnosis alone
Allocation decisions must use transparent, consistently applied criteria and should not categorically exclude patients based solely on a substance use disorder diagnosis.
A minor aged 16 presents alone seeking treatment for opioid use disorder. Under most US state laws, which statement is correct?
Answer: Most states allow minors to consent to SUD treatment without parental involvement
Most US states have laws permitting minors to consent to substance use disorder treatment to reduce barriers to care.